Throughout my years of growth, development, and education on thing has always been a constant, use of the internet. Being that I am a millennial, the internet has played a significant role in my life and has changed the way people interact. One thing the internet has revolutionized is how people write and deliver information.
Writing used to be restricted to pen and paper, people were limited to the amount of information and knowledge that they could gather and disperse. The introduction of the internet changed everything, people could not only write about topics they were interested in but also could research topics to further their knowledge and understanding of the world around them. Today, people around the world can open up a laptop, tablet, or smartphone and begin writing whenever and whatever they please. The outlets used to post said information is endless, people can write about a topic and upload their document to a blog, website, etc. that can be read by an unlimited amount of people.
Never in my life have I been asked to sit down and study my own writing practices. However, from a young age I can tell you that I have always had a love of writing and have excelled in my courses to this point. I actually went to Houston for an aptitude test to see what my strengths and weaknesses were in order to determine what majors I should pursue. I discovered that I have more thoughts per minute than the average person I have a strong flow of conciseness. This means that I am proficient in formulating my thoughts into sentences and am able to flow these sentences well. The doctor said that my brain processes information at a faster rate than most people and therefore it doesn’t take me as long to write because I am going from thought to thought with ease.
My process for writing a 6-page paper to writing a blog post is identical. I always like to have a quiet place to write, whether that’s in my bedroom on my bed or downstairs on the dining room table, I stay away from being distracted by the outside world. I keep handheld devices like phones or tablets far away, as I cannot concentrate when notifications illuminate the room, or my phone begins to ring.
My writing practices are simple yet effective. I always begin a writing assignment days in advance as I have never been one to complete a paper in one day. This allows me to use multiple days to write my papers and I find that my papers flow throughout instead of trailing off towards the end and into my conclusion because the information was exhausted and repetitive. I don’t like being rushed in my essays or papers because I usually end up rambling on and not being as focused if the allotted time is shortened or there is a time limit.
My writing changes significantly when I switch from computer to handheld or smartphone. I am a different person when it comes to texting compared to writing an essay. When I am using my phone I am very short and send minimal texts using lingo whenever possible such as “ttyl” and “wyd”. I think this is because culturally as a society everyone my age was brought up to interact that way. One thing I found to be interesting was that when I use my mac to respond to text messages, I often find myself responding with full complete sentences because I feel like I am writing instead of texting due to the size of the keyboard. This is interesting and I feel like most people would be the same way.
The internet has changed the way people live today and has revolutionized the online writing community. Writing is no longer restricted to pen and paper and anyone can post their work online for millions to read. This assignment asked me to do something I have never had to do and that is to take a step back and observe my writing practices. My writing changes based on the device I am using and that has to do with how culture has molded us from a young age. Observing my writing practices has allowed me to see what exactly I must do in order to produce good work and this is a good example of how to do it.
Literature & the Internet 