Social media can shape your writing. It can be something of a training ground for it, even. For instance, my title used “orz”. That is something I specifically picked up from my time on Twitter. What does it stand for? Oh, nothing, actually. It’s meant to look like someone on their hands and knees, agonizing. It does resemble a word, though (I’ve taken to saying it out loud on occasion). So, what’s stopping it from enhancing a piece? Be it an insignificant tweet or an essay with a playful and/or ironic tone.
I had conflicting feelings when going through texts about how social media affecting writing. It was vindicating – and a little funny – to see a professional study prove something I already knew. Danielle M. Lottridge performed a study in which she determined that those who don’t multitask did consistently better than those who did. The key word there is “consistently.” Those who got distracted by irrelevant links did worse; those who followed links that actively helped them did better than anyone. Anyone who has ever had Twitter open in another tab and ends up finding out about some minute, in-the-moment ruckus? They can probably verify this. Even outside academic work: I will never forget how it took me four hours to watch Streets of Fire because I got distracted by something I cannot describe in an academic environment.
All of that said and done…
I certainly agree with Ann N. Amicucci’s take on the matter. Since social media platforms are essentially evolutionary offshoots of blogging sites, they each incorporate writing strategies into people’s minds. Whenever you reference a TV show or movie in your text, that’s intertextuality. Building upon an existing work is a staple of literature, and it happens all the time in various mediums. Users are also forced to consider the audience they are speaking to and who they want to be. It’s almost always a disaster when a tweet leaves a niche circle of friends. To that end, it gets to a point where “audience” just comes to you naturally; it’s no longer something you must agonize about.
I think that’s something teachers have to consider when they discuss writing. Too many just decide to go the “the thing you think is hip is evil, and the thing I thought was hip is morally sound” route.
I suppose my point is that social media is a distractor in the moment. I’m glad I’ve washed my hands of Twitter for the most part. I cannot deny its influence on how I write, or how others write.
orz? idk.
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