Thurlow’s part of the article regarding webspeak or netlingo was particularly interesting to me, because it has been something that comes up regularly in my every day life. It has become a part of my life, when I am trying to type and have to read back and make sure I did not accidently use netlingo when doing something proffesional. It has definitely left an impact in our culture. It seems that these technologies for communication have become an essential feature of both popular and commercial rhetoric about new media cultures and especially of so called ‘global communications’ (Thurlow, 1-2). Webspeak has been viewed as bad, because it seems like the English language is suffering. New words are being made up in webspeak, then later turn to accepted words when talking to someone in person. Also, there is the thought that with these technologies texting is damaging the English language, as well. I am not sure what extent would I consider texting damaging to English, because I do shorthand, but I also use the autocorrect in texting, when I am not sure of how a word is spelled. It has come in handy, and sometimes backfired when it autocorrected into something you were not trying to say, and you hit send.

There is also the issue of when is it right to use acronyms, emotions, shorthanding. It is easier to shorthand when there is a shortage on time, and when you are trying to get your point across fast. But, would you shorthand your boss in an email? Maybe it depends on the type of job and relationship you have with your boss. Then there are all these acronyms that people use. If the professor asked if we knew the answer to something, would we answer IDK? Also, using emotions accompanied with our writing can direct us to the correct way to interpret the writing. Maybe you have a boss who is really strict and not the type to joke around, not to say he/she does not have a sense of humor, but they send you an email. You would probably read it as a serious email, unless there was a smiley somewhere in there, then you would change the tone of the email. So many things to think about now, but some of the things are just so familiar and part of our lives that we no longer have to think about them.

This weeks readings were very very interesting, and it brought up points, that till this readings I had not given much thought to. The first thing that intrigued me came from Gerrand’s article. It brought up the problem with Global Reach’s assumptions concerning bilingualism and multilingualism. It basically assumes Internet users will use the internet in their first language. It also tends to show the estimates toward overestimating the use of minority languages. This causes a problem because it ignores other bilingual non English speakers who use English websites for business or for personal use.

The next thing that I came across that struck my interest was dealing with race, gender,rank, physical appearances, and other public features are not evident online. In the reading it mentioned that  people would become “depersonalized”, losing their sense of self or other. This would make media less sociable and not a good tool for effective bonds. Then on the other hand they mention how anonymity was going to result in a redistribution of social power. I do not think there is one single side happening right now, I think we have a little bit of both.

The last thing that caught my attention was “flaming”. I believe it caught my attention because I have seen it so many times, but I had no idea it had a name. One of the possibilities they associate flaming to be caused by is missing social cues. Meaning, there are somethings we are taught not to do or say in public, but on the internet, or online anything goes, because you are anonymous, and there is no accountability. However, it is a fact that people will be more nice online than to flame. I think this is true for the most part. I think about facebook because you have your name and your picture, so you are not so anonymous, unless it is a fake profile. Most people are friends and family. Once in a while you have people flaming each other, but most people are not on there to be bullies.

The hopes and fears of people around technology have shifted during time. Technology has evolved and developed so many ways of communicating more efficiently and in a rapid way. For example e-commerce takes advantage of the convenience of being in one place and being able to do business virtually anywhere. We have got accustomed to all our gadgets that it is hard to imagine what we would do without them. Also, all the new forms of communicating have become a very ordinary part of life. Checking our social media page has become a daily routine, texting as having a conversation with an individual has become a normal part of the day. Checking emails is an ordinary task at work. The fear is that many people see the evil side to technology. Many people see the concern with security, censorship, gender demographics, and online pornography (Herring 2004). It is a concern of what is real and what is not? People start to question the quality of mediated interactions, believing technology takes away from social cues that provide rich meaning. Do we use technology simply because it is there? We have text conversations that are meaningless, but we respond back just for the sake of responding. This habits that we do without thinking have become ordinary with technology.

After taking the quiz I found out I was an Ambivalent Networker. Part of the description for this user type is that they rely a lot on mobile devices to connect socially with others and to entertain themselves. I agree with most of the description. I do highly rely on the internet, and especially now that I have all online classes. I do most of my payments for my bills online because of the convenience, and the few dollars that I save from gas and from paying a third party to send my bill, or for a money order. I also agree that it does help to stay in contact with family in friends. Especially when you have a huge family, but it is in another country. I only get to see them once a year, so social media makes it so much easier to keep up with what everyone is doing during the year. I think, another thing that this user type accurately describes me in is in that even though I rely so much on the internet, and get online several times a day, sometimes, I believe it is good to take a break from it. I go through phases where I can go weeks without checking my facebook or email, and then there are times where I check it every day. It is good to know other type of users, as well, because everyone is not the same, and every one does not have the same kind of wants and needs from the internet.