The Net Generation; The Art of Conversation and its Waning Influence on Digital Natives

As far as I'm concerned, there's no way we've devolved. The way I see it, the Digital era has done nothing but good for the human race. The internet is now a collection of all human history - Pretty much anything that has ever happened can be found on the internet. You need help for an Exam? Plenty of guides available. Want to talk and get to know people? Forums are everywhere. Need life advice? Well, the internet can even help there with sites dedicated to such topics in no short supply.

When the Car was invented, did nobody sit back and worry about the implications? I'm sure plenty of people did. Perhaps even saying similar things to this. But now look: Cars are everywhere. Everyone and everyone's cat has a car, and the handful of people that don't are either afraid of them, prefer other transport methods, or can't afford them. When you think about it, the internet isn't hugely different - It's a new thing and people don't understand it, they aren't used to it, so some people turn to fear as a last resort. Saying that internet communication is unsociable is ridiculous; would anyone call letters to people unsociable? Probably not. But it's practically the same thing. One person writes a block of text, the other reads it and replies, rinse and repeat.

Personally, this is a topic I'm quite passionate about, because to me, it just seems ridiculous. I suffer from anxiety in real social situations. Would anyone here think that seeing me around here? I doubt it. While I'm here, I can truly be myself, while in real life I'm let down by Anxiety. What if someone had this kind of anxiety a few years ago, when there wasn't any internet? They'd either force themselves into Social situations that they don't want to be in, or become a Hermit, living alone.

As for the "Art of Conversation" being lost in this era, just read what Reckless just posted. Just read what I've just written. Go read one of the Roleplays on the site, in fact, read almost anything on this site. Notice anything? In most cases, there is nothing but good English. Proper punctuation, good spelling, and all the like. Using a computer has taught me more about how to use grammar properly than English lessons ever could. Take that, English Teacher.

So, in my opinion, the Digital era has done nothing but good to this world. I know that, without it, the world would be much worse off. Consider - We would not get instant news, we would not be able to instantly send messages across the internet for free. It's possible we wouldn't even know about the Ebola Outbreak, for example. The reason we know is because someone sent news data across the internet. It's practically a dependency now, but that's fine by me. And personally? I think that anyone that thinks the Internet needs to disappear should go hit themselves across the face with a frying pan.

Anyway, my keyboard is smouldering from all this writing, so this is where I stop my part in this rant debate.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zET5yM5P46M

watch 6:08 to 8:27.

Personally, I think conversation is evolving because people are still posting long, deep, enlightening posts still. It's not all "YOLO waz up gurl". sure, it might not be in person but is this not a conversation?
I prefer to talk over the internet because I am not the strongest speaker, I also have no social life outside the internet. I have troubles expressing myself and what I what to say in speech sometimes. But in writing I can let go of any limitations because I can always revise and rewrite before posting. It is very hard to take back once something is said because the memory will always linger.