John's Thoughts

Lebron James: Social Media and NBA King

Lebron James has been the dominant force behind basketball since he entered the league in 2003, and was crowned the “King” by Sports Illustrated. As Lebron became an integral star in the NBA he was pushed by the rest of the NBA to make social media accounts. Lebron currently has a Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter account (he uses the account @KingJames for his Instagram and Twitter.) Lebron currently has almost 70 million followers through all three sites, with 29 million coming from his Twitter account (Spain 2016). While Lebron is clearly the most popular NBA player on social media (he has almost 15 million more followers than the next closest NBA player), it is his inactivity that is the most intriguing to fans and basketball commentators. Lebron is known for his social media blackouts during his playoff runs, which have been called by his friends “Zero Dark 23” (Spain 2016). Lebron during these blackout times will completely shut himself off from all social media accounts, even to the point of not using his cellphone during the playoffs. This year Lebron started his social media blackout about a week ago (during the regular season, the first time he has ever started the blackout during the regular season.) However, the most intriguing part of this year’s social media blackout is what he did before starting the blackout.

                  Picture retrieved from: http://www.pintrest.com

 This year before Lebron started his blackout he unfollowed the official Cleveland Cavaliers’ Twitter and Instagram accounts. This has left many basketball commentators to speculate if there is something more behind this unfollowing, especially since Lebron’s contract with the Cavaliers ends at the end of this NBA season. Lebron has said that unfollowing those accounts was meant to cut down his distractions and allow him to focus solely on playoff basketball (Spain 2016). While Lebron may actually be just trying to cut out distractions, these events were also paired by two interesting sets of Tweets from Lebron. In one Tweet Lebron called out an unidentified teammate for his “lack of hustle during a game” (Spain 2016). In another Tweet, Lebron mentioned that he wants to play with Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Paul before their careers are over (Pandian 2016). These two quotes have forced commentators to wonder if this summer we will have a repeat of “The Decision” (Lebron’s decision to join the Miami Heat in the 2010 off-season through free agency.) “The Decision” was a whirlwind of events in which Lebron dominated both social and regular media and ended with him deciding on which NBA team he was going to play for on an hour-long ESPN special.

 The reason for the increase in speculation with what Lebron’s recent social media campaign actually means is not only heightened by “The Decision” but also by the fact that this is unlike Lebron’s regular social media presence. Lebron is known for being rather reserved on social media in comparison to other NBA superstars (Pandian 2016). Lebron on Twitter is known for posting inspirational quotes and tweeting at teammates and friends to praise them for their accomplishments. On Instagram, Lebron is known for posting occasional pictures of his family trips or various basketball photos. Lebron can almost be considered “quiet” when compared to his fellow NBA superstars who seem to spend as much time on social media as they do on the hardwood (Pardain 2016). So while basketball commentators are left to debate whether The Decision 2.0 is coming this summer the rest of us are left to wonder if this is the start of a new Lebron on social media.

 Lebron’s Social Media Feedback

While Lebron is not using social media to sell a product, he is using social media to sell his brand, or rather himself. In the past, Lebron really only started using social media as a means of cleaning up his image after “The Decision” (Pardain 2016). Lebron received a fair amount of negative criticism for “The Decision” and his entire free agency process. Many previous NBA players called out Lebron saying that he should have just made a simple business decision instead of allowing the media to blowup over where he was going to go. Those same players also called out Lebron for joining with other superstars to create a “Super Team” instead of just waiting for Cleveland to acquire more talent (Spain 2016). Fans were angered that Lebron would abandon Cleveland (Lebron grew up right outside of Cleveland in Akron, Ohio) and were angered by how he handled the entire situation. Since “The Decision” in 2010, Lebron has regained and added new followers by staying to simple Instagram and Twitter posts, as I talked about earlier.

 Lebron has never really had to worry about awareness of his brand due to his success in the NBA, his popular shoe and clothing line, and his many endorsements. Instead Lebron has stayed mainly at the consideration phase of Evan’s Social Feedback Cycle. Since “The Decision” he has tried to use consideration to help others form their own opinion and get back to talking positively about Lebron. Lebron over the past six years has done an excellent job of keeping the majority of talk about him positive. Commentators have praised Lebron for sticking to just playing basketball and he has gained millions of new followers (Spain 2016). While Lebron has been mostly focused on helping his brand image his social media usage has also helped him with the purchasing and use portion of Evan’s Social Feedback Cycle. Through his social media presence, Lebron has been able to build not only his personal brand, but also increase sales in his shoe and clothing line and sales of the different companies he endorses.

             Retrieved from: http://www.businessinsider.com

 Lebron’s recent social media antics have steered in a different type of consideration phase than Lebron normally takes a part of. Lebron’s recent tweets and unfollowings have increased the amount of talking about Lebron and his brand as a whole, as many people have formed their own opinion on what all of this truly means. While the majority of the talk about what Lebron has been doing has not been negative, it definitely has forced Lebron into the limelight more than he normally is. Lebron has not only seen an increase in talk about what he has been doing but his social media presence recently has also seen an increase in his shoe and clothing sales (Pardain 2016). Lebron has successfully used his social media accounts to generate conversations about Lebron as a player and person and also generate sales of his products.

   Evan’s Four-Step Engagement Process Applied to Lebron

Lebron’s approach to social media would be considered the consumption stage in Evan’s Four-Step Engagement Process. Lebron does not use social media to engage his followers, but rather to just convey a message. Lebron has used social media as a means to shape his brand image and to get people talking about it. Especially after “The Decision” Lebron only used his social media as a way to rebuild his brand name and image. While he occasionally will tweet at a fan or fellow player he normally does not use social media to get into discussions with others. However, his recent lack of engagement through social media is what has caused him the most issues.

 By posting cryptic tweets and unfollowing his current team Lebron has left many to wonder if these are signs of his free agency intentions or if this is truly Lebron entering his playoffs social media blackout. Lebron’s recent social media actions have been strictly in the consumption stage of Evan’s Four-Step Engagement Process, he has not even tweeted at a fan in almost three weeks (Spain 2016). Personally, I believe that social media has allowed us to scrutinize star athletes too much. Given the circumstances though, I believe that Lebron needs to move up in Evan’s Four-Step Engagement Process and engage with more people on social media. I believe that his lack of engagement is actually bringing him more attention than the supposed social media blackout he is trying to accomplish. While I applaud Lebron for normally staying lower on the engagement scale I believe he needs to engage more with his social media audience so people can be more clear of his intentions. If these past few weeks are any indication, I think Lebron will actually engage others even less on social media than he already does.

 Works Cited

Pandian, Ananth (March 26 2016). Lebron James Changing Social Media Tune as Cavs Prepare for Playoffs. CBS Sports. Retrieved from http://www.cbssports.com

Facebook has long used embedded advertisements that are based off of what you search online to better target what advertisements you see while you are on your Facebook page. This is a practice that has been in place on Facebook since late 2010. In an attempt to increase advertisement revenue and to build off of their targeted marketing Facebook acquired Instagram in early 2012. Facebook believed that this would be an easy integration of both social media sites because Instagram was built on the same principle that Facebook was built off of: free for users now and always free for users. Facebook believed that buying Instagram was a move in the right direction and the $1 billion they spent (the most Facebook had spent on acquiring anything up to that point) showed their commitment. After acquiring Instagram Facebook soon began to make moves on increasing Instagram’s revenue without making users pay to use the social media site.

         Terms of Service

After acquiring Instagram, it soon became apparent that Facebook had to think of a way to make money off the social media site, especially if they planned to keep the site free to users. It was decided that Instagram would add sponsored advertisements on their site and on December 17, 2012 Instagram introduced a new Terms of Service to its users introducing how they were going to implement their advertisements to the site. Most users had no problem with how Instagram was going to implement the new advertisements. Users saw no problem with advertisements showing up in the same way that a regular Instagram post would show up. All someone would have to do was keep scrolling down and they could bypass the advertisement. However, if it was an advertisement they actually liked all they had to do was “like” the picture. By “liking” the picture Instagram would be able to use that information to better target advertisements to each individual user. It allowed Instagram to make sure that you were seeing advertisements you wanted to see and avoiding those you did not want to see. Instagram figured this would improve users’ experiences because they would only see advertisements that they wanted to see. The problem that users had with how Instagram was how the company was going to use people’s profiles to improve the advertisements.

The new Terms of Service stated “Instagram would be able to use pictures in advertisements without notifying or compensating users, and to disclose user data to Facebook and to advertisers” (Mintz 2013). Instagram also introduced an arbitration clause, through the new Terms of Service, that waived users’ rights to bring a class action lawsuit against Instagram that was in regards to the new Terms of Service. The company wanted to make sure in advance that there would be no legal action against the company for their new policies. Instagram figured that users would have no issues with the new Terms of Service because they would not come into effect until January 16, 2013, which meant that any Instagram posts before that date would not be able to be used by Facebook or advertisers. Users outrage pushed Instagram to retract the majority of their Terms of Service less than two weeks after they had introduced them to the public.

Part of those retractions were that they would no longer use names, images and photos of users from user profiles without user consent. They put in a new clause that would force users to give permission to use their information and that they would be compensated for that information. While this was meant as a way to please the users Instagram still kept in the stipulation that arbitration would be mandatory (Mintz 2013). Most users were pleased with Instagram’s change of terms and continue to use the social media site to this day.

 COPPA

While most users were angered by Instagram’s new Terms of Service the part that got most users infuriated was the new terms’ policy on children users. The new terms had a clause inserted into them stating that it was implied that a parent or guardian had read the new terms with the child user. Using this clause Instagram allowed any minor to be held to the same terms as the adult users. This meant that a child user of Instagram could also see their name, profile, or posts used in advertisements (Mintz 2013).

Parents called for the abolishing of this clause specifically. They stated that this was in direct violation of their children’s policy and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Instagram argued against this claim stating that the clause in the new terms regarding parent’s knowledge kept this clause from falling outside the guidelines of COPPA. In a class action lawsuit brought up against Instagram the company tried to claim that parents were responsible for knowing what posts their children were putting on the social media site. Instagram tried to argue that it was the job of the parents and not the site itself to police the activity of their children. They also stated that since the parents should be monitoring their children and since it was insinuated that they would know about the advertisement clause, then Instagram was well in the confines of COPPA. Soon after the class action lawsuit Instagram released a new Terms of Service stating that advertisement companies would not be allowed access to any Instagram users under the age of eighteen. Instagram also said that the change in Terms of Service was not caused by the pressure of the lawsuit but that it was a company “change of heart” (Mintz 2013).

             My Thoughts

I believe that in this case Instagram acted in a very unethical manner. Instagram hid their new changes to the sites advertisement policy by putting the new policy in their Terms of Service, knowing that most people rarely take the time to read over the Terms of Service of anything. While Instagram was in their legal rights to add this to the terms (because not fully reading what you agree to doesn’t release you from a contract) they were morally wrong. When Facebook acquired Instagram they forced the company to be focused on monetizing their users as opposed to providing the best services possible. I think this is what lay behind their decision to trick their users into being unpaid advertisements for various companies. Utilizing the knowledge that people are too lazy to read over the terms of service to increase your revenues is very ethically wrong. If Instagram had truly cared about their users they would have made it more clear to the users what they planned to do with everyone’s profiles. As a personal user of Instagram I was astounded to learn that the company would do this to its customers. I very much enjoy using Instagram but after this article I am curious to know what Instagram does with information from my profile, even if they say that they no longer give that information to advertisement companies. I will still continue to use Instagram but this article will definitely make me more careful when I am on the social media site.

 Works Cited

Mintz, Steven (March 18, 2013).  Instagram’s Term of Service and Privacy Issues. Ethics Sage: Sharing My Wisdom on Societal and Business Ethcis. Retrieved from http://www.ethicssage.com

 Source: flickr.com/Instagram_logo

UK SMS Volumes Decline For First Time

For the first time since text messaging was invented the United Kingdom saw a decrease in the amount of SMS messages sent. However, the amount of texting did not drop, just the amount of traditional text messages dropped. This is because the new smartphones no longer use the traditional SMS messages (unless they are sending texts to non-smartphones,) but rather they use web messaging. An example of this web messaging is the iMessage that all iPhones use. With this change in messaging also comes a change in paying for messaging. Cellular providers are now providing free text messaging, but they are trying to push data charges. This means that gone are the days of worrying about abbreviating words to make sure you did not overuse your texting plan.

“UK SMS Volumes Decline For First Time.” Total Telecom Online. 13 Jan. 2014. Gale Cengage Learning. Web. 2 Mar. 2014

Global Market Development

The first portable telephones were made available to the public in 1991. However, it wasn’t until 1993 that SMS messaging was added on to cellphones. There were two major problems that kept SMS from being on the first cellphones: screen size and how to charge for it. The pioneers of the cell phone industry that helped launch SMS messaging were Nokia, Siemens, Orbitel, and Ericsson. The next problem that these providers had to deal with was sending messages internationally. These problems seem like things of the past as cellphones have not only evolved from being to send texts internationally, but now they can video chat internationally.

Hillebrand, Friedhelm. “Global Market Development.” Short Message Service (SMS): The Creation of Personal Global Texting. Hoboken: Wiley, 2010. 125-130. Web. 2 Mar. 2014

Owners Tweet for Social-Media Savy Talent

We are now living in a fast paced world. If you are unable to use or comprehend the technology that surrounds us then you will find yourself in the slow lane while the rest of the world whips by you. We have gone from a world that was only able to use phones to call people to a world that uses phones to text, video chat, tweet, Snapchat, and pretty much anything that you can think of. Employers are beginning to notice this ever-changing social trend and are taking action to keep up. Corporations are no longer just looking for people that are tech savy they are now using social networks to recruit employees. Social networks are everywhere and companies are able to cash in on the cheap costs of advertising to land new hires.

Zimmerman, Eilene. “Owners Tweet for Social-Media Savy Talent; Firms Turn to Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and Tumblr to Save on Recruting Costs.” Crain’s New York Business. 17 Feb. 2014. Gale Infotrac Web. 4 Mar. 2014

Text Messaging and Teenagers

Teenagers have mainly used text messaging as it has become the easiest and most popular way for people to communicate. A recent study by the University of Wisconsin discovered that teenagers are most likely to use texting to communicate with a peer or adult over any form of technological communication. This study found that teenagers are most likely to use text messaging because the ease and speed that is associated with texting. The study also found that text messaging has taken away social interactions from teenagers. Most teenagers would prefer to text someone instead of actually talk to them. The report found that teenagers prefer to hide behind screens instead of having physical interactions with others.

Porath, Suzanne. “Text Messaging and Teenagers: A Review of the Literature” Journal of the Research Center for Education. 7:2 (2011): 86-98. GaleNet. Web. 4 Mar. 2014

Students’ Use of Text-Messaging and Their Learning Experience

The amount of texts that teenagers send and receive has risen every year since SMS messaging first hit the market. This study done by a professor at the University of Texas at El Paso found that texting is not as bad for teenagers learning as most adults assume it is. The study found that teenagers do text excessively and they have even been found to text in class, but texting is not always detrimental to the students’ learning.  In fact texting can actually help a students learning. The study supports Crystal’s idea that texting is beneficial to our language and can open new frontiers for literature. The study shows that texting has created a new “language” for teenagers that they can only understand if they truly grasp the normal language.

More Than Abbreviations

In “2b or Not 2b?” David Crystal attacks the idea that texting means the destruction of our current language. Crystal writes that the main objection to texting is the abbreviations used in text messaging. With a few simple keystrokes three has become 3 and modern language has collapsed. Older generations argue that this new means of communication is harmful for our generation because we no longer know how to write correctly. However, the idea that texting is overflowing with abbreviations is greatly exaggerated. Crystal writes that upon further research it was found that most people use abbreviations to make up no more than 20% of their texts.

Crystal writes that the older generations are only afraid of this new technology and are unwilling to accept it. He compares this fear of technology to the reception that the Printing Press got when it was introduced to the world. He also states that the same people that bash texting for using abbreviations were the same people using abbreviations to send messages; they just did it on paper. Crystal states that abbreviations have been used in forms of communication, as early as 1618; with the use of IOW instead of I owe you. No matter what someone’s view on texting is Crystal writes that it is simply a way to make life easier and it gives the possibility for a new literature medium.

 Fig 1. "Texters." Photo from Daveibsen.

  Texting: The New Literary Frontier

David Crystal argues that texting is being seen in the worst light possible, and people are refusing to look at the power and possibilities that comes with texting. Crystal states that people are quick to criticize texting’s effect on language, but are not willing to see the true purpose behind texting. Texting is simply a technology meant to increase the speed and ease at which we can communicate with each other. People are overlooking the simplicity of what texting is supposed to be because they are frightened by the new technology. Older generations are able to look past the fact that they did what they are accusing our generation of doing simply because they are unable to grasp the usefulness of texting. A perfect example for this problem is my mother. Everyone in my family has texting except her. She claims that texting is hard and would take up too much of her time. Instead of being able to send her a text message I have to call her (which ends up taking much longer than sending a text.)

Crystal writes that people have turned texting into a cultural problem, as people drift from true literature and begin to use texting as the only way of writing. Crystal counters this argument by showing the brilliance that can come with using texting as a literature medium. In 2007, T-Mobile hosted a texting poetry competition to celebrate World Poetry Day. The competition proved that texting was not actually hurting our language, but simply expanding. There was a mixture of competitors using traditional poetry style, while others were using more of texting language (for example, use of abbreviations.) Crystal explains that by using texting as the medium for the poem a new style of poetry is created, “The length constraint in text-poetry fosters economy of expression in much the same way as other tightly constrained forms of poetry do” (Crystal 750). In China, a mobile literature channel was created that uses texting as a way to spread its texting novels. Using the medium of texting this channel would send out a chapter each day (the chapter would be as many characters his phone allowed to be sent at once.) Texting limits writers based on how many characters they can use, but it forces them to think outside of the box as they must still get their message across no matter how many characters they are limited to.

 Fig 2. “Novel Texting.” Photo from New Yorker

  Not For the Older Generation

The intended audience for this piece is the younger generation. Our generation has been the springboard that has launched texting to the height it is at today. In less than a decade we have gone from a generation that had to call on landlines just to talk to their friends to a generation that feels more comfortable texting someone “I love you,” as opposed to actually saying it. This makes us the perfect audience for Crystal’s “2b or Not 2b?” As a generation we relate to Crystal as he argues that we have not become a generation incapable of using modern language, but a generation that has so mastered modern language we do not even have to use full words for people to fully understand what we have written, “Before you can write and play with abbreviated forms, you need to have a sense of how the sounds of your language relate to the letters” (Crystal 753). To truly understand where Crystal is coming from it helps to be in our generation because we have used texting as a means of communicating for the majority of our lifetime and we can be considered the “masters” of texting.

My generation relates to Crystal because of the way he argues that older generations are quick to judge when they were the same way when they were our age: “Adults who condemn a ‘c u’ in a young person’s texting have forgotten that they once die the same thing themselves (though not on a mobile phone)” (Crystal 748). The only difference is that they used abbreviations while passing notes and we use abbreviations when communicating via cellphones. Due to this, older generations are distanced from Crystal’s writings. Older generations are afraid of what texting means for language and younger generations. Crystal explains that they are simply overreacting, “There is no disaster pending. We will not see a new generation of adults growing up unable to write proper English” (Crystal 753). While they might know some of the texting terminology Crystal uses, Crystal ousts them for being hypocritical. Crystal argues that it is easy for the older generations to point fingers because it is hard for them to say they are just pointing fingers at a reflection of what they did.

    Fig 3. “Old Texter.” Photo from Daddy Files

  Texting is not Genghis Khan

Crystal writes “2b or Not 2b?” to defend texting as a useful technology. Texting has long been attacked by older generations as harmful to the younger generations. Crystal quotes John Humphrys as he compares what texting is doing to our language to what Genghis Khan did to the majority of Asia; “They are destroying it: pillaging our punctuation; savaging our sentences; raping our vocabulary” (Humprhys via Crystal 745). Crystal’s motivation is not to defend this part of texting, but rather to prove texting is helpful not harmful for the modern language. Crystal writes that older generations are so lost in the idea that no good can come from texting that they overlook the raw potential using text messaging as a literature medium offers. Crystal offers numerous examples to back his point, from T-Mobile’s World Poetry Day Competition to the Chinese “m-novel” Channel. He is clearly motivated to prove that while texting is still seen as a fairly new way to write the possibilities are endless. Crystal goes on to write that blending the regular ways of writing and texting abbreviations can create new forms of poetry along the lines of haiku.

The main reason behind “2b or Not 2b?” is to persuade readers to see texting for what it truly is: new technology. Texting helps to enhance our ability to communicate with one another. As a society, we now grasp the ability to send written words from our hands to someone else halfway across the world in a matter of seconds. However, this new technology has not been met with great reviews, especially by older generations who are unable to grasp the technology. Crystal compares the criticism of texting to that of the printing press: “Ever since the arrival of printing- thought to be the invention of the devil […] people have been arguing that new technology would have disastrous consequences for language” (Crystal 745). Both were new technologies capable of reshaping writing and both were met with criticism and people afraid to think of an expansion to writing, as they knew it. Crystal persuades his readers to look past their biases and see how far texting can take literature.

The main evidence that Crystal uses to persuade his audience is he shows the hypocrasy in their arguments against texting and the use of abbreviations. The majority of those opposed to texting as new means of literature point to the use of abbreviations in texting as an example of how texting is harmful to literature. Crystal points out that most people use abbreviations to make up 20% or less of their text messages, but he also points out that texting is not the first time that abbreviations have been used to communicate. Abbreviations have long been used in communications; in fact “Eric Partridge published his Dictionary of Abbreviations in 1942” (Crystal 748). Crystal shows that older generations are quick to point a finger on younger generations for bringing abbreviation into modern language, but they aren’t willing to look into the mirror and see who really made abbreviation a key part of modern language. 

Fig Fig 4. “Abbreviations” Photo from Sourcefed.

SMS Poetry is for Real

In this piece Crystal comes off as annoyed with the older generations who scoff at Crystal’s intended audience’s use of texting. He spends the majority of the paper persuading his audience to see the true brilliance and beauty that texting can bring. To Crystal texting is a new frontier just waiting to be explored, “In texting what we are seeing, in a small way, is language in evolution” (Crystal 753). There are points in his writing when he seems annoyed that anyone would dare question the usefulness of texting, especially in the beginning when he quotes John Humphrys, who claims that texting is butchering our language.

Even more than annoyed, Crystal seems very passionate about using texting to expand literature. Crystal is trying to show his reader the way he sees texting and to do this passion is the easiest way to persuade. Crystal’s passion is shown especially thru his analysis of the two poems he uses from T-Mobile’s World Poetry Day Competition. When writing about both of the poems Crystal sheds a positive light comparing how the poets were able to blend the ways of known poetry with texting to create beautiful love poems. When writing about texting poetry Crystal says; “There is something about the genre which has no parallel elsewhere” (Crystal 751). Crystal explains that due to the limitations on how many characters can be in a SMS message the poets have to truly think about how they will get their message across.

Crystal hopes to draw his intended audience into the piece by relating to them. He relates to them by showing the unjust bias in older generation’s claims against texting. As I stated earlier in the blog, older generations are quick to point fingers at the younger generation, but they don’t realize the younger generations are just mirroring them. Our generation is using a new form of communication to use abbreviations, but they are still using abbreviations that their parents used before them. The only difference is that we, as the younger generation, can also use our means of communication as a literature medium.

 Fig 5. “Text Poetry.” Photo from Pinterest

  Ignore the Stigmatism of Texting

Crystal picks an interesting topic to speak about by writing “2b or Not 2b?” Texting has many social objections to it, not only whether it can or cannot be seen as literature, but also the social arguments that come with texting. Crystal intrigues me with his decision to defend texting instead of attack it. His stance on texting varies from that of Lynne Truss’ “The Joy of Texting.” Where Truss is quick to judge those that text and point out the social problems that come with texting, Crystal points to texting as an unknown and disrespected writing medium. There are many limitations to taking this stance towards texting. Texting is viewed by society (especially older generations) as a way to be anti-social. They see texting as a means for people to hide behind a screen instead of physically talking to someone. Due to this perception it is hard for Crystal to persuade his audience to view texting in the same way that Crystal views texting.

I think that by making this an essay instead of a blog post made it harder on Crystal to persuade his audience. His intended audience is clearly younger generations, but his method of getting his ideas out leans more towards a method that older generations are more likely to view. I believe that if Crystal had used a blog post instead he would have gotten more attention and support from his intended audience. However, Crystal is also seeking to persuade us to look at texting as a new way to write. If Crystal had used a blog instead of making his piece an essay I think he wouldn’t have been able to persuade his reader as well. I think this is because blogs are given the same stigmatism as texting. Blogs are still viewed as a way for anyone to ramble on about whatever they want. I believe that if Crystal had used a blog for his piece that his readers would have seen him as an angered youth trying to persuade older people that his texting constantly was useful.

 Fig 6. “Person Reading.” Photo from Crunchy Blogger

Making This Blog

Having spent my entire academic career writing essays and not writing blogs making this blog post was really interest. Just as Crystal sees texting as a new literature medium I began to view this blog in the same way. There were certain restrictions as to how to make this post, but the more I got into making this post the less I saw them as restrictions. The restrictions forced me to change my style of writing and how I thought blogs were made. Due to making this blog post I have a new found respect for bloggers.

I feel like the hardest part of making this rhetorical analysis was the fact that I couldn’t write it like a normal essay. It has been hammered into me how to write the perfect “5 paragraph” style essay, but I’ve never had to write a Tumblr blog post before. Writing this post took me out of my comfort zone and forced me to really look at my creative side. Writing this blog enhanced my writing as it challenged me to be creative while keeping with a template.

 Fig 7. “Author” Photo from Second Wind Publishing

  Works Cited

Crystal, David. “2b or Not 2b?” Everyone’s an Author”: With Readings. 1 (2013): 745-753. Print.

  Gouveia, Aaron. “Grandma texting.” Daddy Files. Aaron Gouveia, 13 Feb. 2012. JPEG. 23 Feb. 2014

  James, Maggy. “Texting Poetry Presentation.” Pinterest. Maggy James, Jan. 2014. JPEG. 23 Feb. 2014

  Matthew. “Coffee Shop Reading.” Crunchy Blogger. Matthew, June 2013. JPEG. 23 Feb. 2014

  Stevens, Mick. “Novel Texting.” New Yorker. Mick Stevens, 29 April 2013. JPEG. 23 Feb. 2014

  Terry, Alyssa. “List of Abbreviations.” Sourcefed. Alyssa Terry, 23 Oct. 2012. JPEG. 23 Feb. 2014

  “Texters Against a Wall.” Daveibsen. June 2007. JPEG. 23 Feb. 2014

Spectators at a Live Football Game

When speaking to an audience at a live football game as the speaker you need to build off of their emotions. This type of audience doesn’t want a bland, run of the mill speech they want to be fired up. Growing up as a Philadelphia Eagles fan I was able to witness first hand the most passionate fans in all of sports. Eagles fans are not only passionate but normally very intoxicated. One of my fondest memories is when the Rocky theme song comes up when the Eagles appear to be making a comeback. The stadium goes nuts and literally rocks from the pure emotion and yelling. To be able to talk to a stadium I would build off of all the energy and put a lot of fire into my words. I would try and excite them about my blog. I would use the commercial that I put on my blog to represent pathos to speak to this audience. I would try and energize them based off of this and build off of this point in the conversation to get them to like the blog more.

Visitor at a Major Art Museum

People going to an art museum are looking to enjoy fine art that they can appreciate. There is no emotion that I am trying to get this audience to fell. If I was speaking to this audience I would use a lot more logos than pathos. These people are trying to figure out what they are about to see in the museum. So, I would speak to this audience in a much calmer mood in comparison to how I would talk to a packed football stadium. Due to this I would speak to this audience in an informative way about my blog. I would attempt to explain them the art that went into my blog and try and draw them in that way.

Cinema Attendees for a Hollywood Movie

I would speak to this audience the same way I would speak to visitors of an art museum. People going to watch a movie are simply looking for information on the movie, and then they are hoping to watch the movie in peace. I would speak to this group in a much more informative manner, simply giving them information about the blog. These people want the logos behind the blog. I would explain to them why the blog was made and what I am trying to say in my posts.

Facebook (Social Media) Friend

The way I would speak to a Facebook friend is completely different from any other audience. The way I would speak to this audience would be less formal than any of the other audiences I mentioned, even the packed football stadium. I would use slang while communicating with my Facebook Friend whereas, I would never use slang when talking to the other audiences. This is because this audience is one of my peers who I am not trying to impress, give information to, or work with at them time I am talking to them. I am much more laidback when I am speaking with my peers. I feel more comfortable speaking with them and don’t watch what I say as much as I do when I am speaking to older audiences. To get this audience to read my blog I would try and hype up my blog and make it appear interesting to them. This audience will only listen if they are interested so getting them interested in my blog would be the most important thing I would do when trying to get them to read my blog.

Readers of Academic Articles

http://omarseven1.tumblr.com

  I think that Omar does an excellent job of summarizing David Crystal’s “2b or Not 2b?” Omar brings to light the importance of the issues that Crystal touches on. When texting was first introduced to the world it was met with a lot of criticism. Companies were not sure how to charge people for texting, while others (like Omar mentions) were under the belief that texting meant the end of our language, as we know it. I like how Omar explains the arguments that Crystal brings up to defend texting. Crystal points out that people have always been adverse to new technologies, you have to actually understand what you mean to use abbreviations, and texting can improve test scores.

I agree with what Crystal says, and I believe that texting is being misinterpreted. Texting is a way to make communication easier and quicker. It is not, as some people claim, a means of butchering our language. I believe that texting has been blown way out of proportion. Society, especially the older generations, was not ready to embrace this new technology so they needed to see flaws, even if they weren’t legitimate flaws. I also agree that texting can improve one’s test scores. Crystal points out that to use abbreviations one must understand what they truly mean to say. To add to Crystal’s point, I believe that texting acts as a way to stimulate the mind. Abbreviations are a sort of code that needs to be deciphered, so without meaning to texting as a mind game. By keeping the brain stimulated and active, I believe, is the way that texting helps to improve test scores.

The only part that I disagree with Crystal on is about texting being a new form of literature. I think that texting is only a new medium for communicating. I agree that everyone has their own style to how they text, but I don’t see that becoming anything more than that. For example, the “novels” that Crystal mentions are only short text messages sent out daily telling a story. They cannot compare to true classics such as Tom Sawyer, To Kill A Mockingbird, or The Three Musketeers.

  http://chanderhan.tumblr.com

  Cole does a good job in reviewing Alissa Wilkinson’s “The Social Network,” a critique of the movie. I thought Cole did an excellent job of organizing his summary. He talks first about how Facebook has changed Wilkinson’s life. He then delves into how Wilkinson describes the film. Wilkinson points out that there is a large part of Zuckerberg’s story about the making of Facebook that is unknown. She points out that the movie attempts to stay as close to the actual story as much as possible, but it is hard when there is a lot of he said she said going on.

I agree with Wilkinson that it is hard to remember a world where we actually had privacy. I still remember joining Facebook back in 2009, and as Wilkinson says, it truly changed my life. I agree with Wilkinson that privacy is completely dead. My senior year of high school I remember there was an assembly about applying to colleges. In this assembly my guidance counselor mentioned being careful about what we put online, especially on our Facebooks, because colleges would see what we posted. I also remember not being fazed by this at all. I have come to accept that I no longer have real privacy in this world.

I was intrigued by how Cole described Wilkinson’s review of the movie. I was aware when I saw the film that the writers were not entirely sure of what had actually happened. However, Wilkinson critiques the film as if it was pure chaos. I agree that there were times in which it was hard to tell fact from fiction, but I think the movie is far from what Wilkinson describes. I think the movie was not really focused on chaos, but more of how creating Facebook changed Zuckerberg. I also am in disagreement with how Wilkinson finishes her review. I think the she is quick to judge our generation based on a select few rather than as a whole. While I will admit that a large part of my generation is concerned with building their image, I do not think this is the case for us all. For example, I care more about enjoying my life than what other’s think about me. I think Wilkinson is a little rash in her judgment that my entire generation is only concerned with how they are perceived.

  http://jakepow1.tumblr.com

  I enjoyed how Jake ended his summary. I think he does a good job of starting off his summary by going into detail Jonah Lehrer’s “We Robots.” I liked how after he explained what Lehrer was saying he finished the summary by offering his own commentary on the article. It made me really think about how I saw the article.

I don’t agree with what Lehrer writes as much as the other two articles I mentioned earlier in this post. The only thing I really agree on with Lehrer is that we are living in a world now full of robots. However, Lehrer and Sherry Turkle view this world in a negative light. I like to focus more on the positive that comes with the increase in robots in our world. Lehrer and Turkle focus on how some people have used robots as a way to hide from actual communication with real humans. They ignore the fact that robots have allowed our industries to increase and production to speed up.

Reverse Outline

Texting is causing the destruction of our language by messing with spelling and punctuation

Texting is the lazy man’s way out of really writing

New technology has always been seen as a threat to language, but texting is seen as the full end to true language

Texting is still a new technology but it is growing rapidly

Texting had a slow start due to deciding how to charge for texting, but millions of texts are now sent daily

Texting has been found to help literacy as abbreviations make people have to understand the full message

People understand they still need to be understand and most people abbreviate a few words or none at all

The media made it seem that texting was all abbreviations when most texting uses only about 20% abbreviations

A teacher put an “essay” that was written in all abbreviations, but it appears to seem fake because only one part of the essay is ever shown

Abbreviations were used more in chat rooms or online before texting

Adults like to condemn abbreviations, but they have been using abbreviations well before kids did, they just did it differently

The first use of abbreviations of using one letter to stand for a word started in 1618 with IOU

Eric Partridge published a Dictionary of Abbreviations in 1942

Abbreviating has always been met with flack, but some words are so common now we forget they are abbreviated (exam, bus, fridge)

Abbreviating is harder because there are multiple combinations for different abbreviations

Everyone texts differently just as everyone has a different writing identity (this helped to prove Stuart Campbell guilty of the murder of his niece)

Texters are deviant with spelling, but shortening of words has been going on since the 1800s

The original cell phone was not meant to be used for texting so abbreviations make texting easier

Abbreviations made texting easy, and most abbreviations are simple (for example, using numbers instead of spelling it out)

Texting isn’t all about making it easier abbreviations are another way of enjoying the language and playing with it

To celebrate World Poetry Day in 2007 T-Mobile held a competition for the best romantic poetry using SMS, and the applicants were a mix of actual spelling and abbreviations

Using texting for poetry has the same restrictions as haiku o Welsh englyn have on poetry

Text poetry is a genre all its own and allows for a new found fondness for poetry

The brevity of SMS forces poets to truly think about what they are writing and makes it impossible to force the language

In Japan the author Yoshi wrote a text-message novel Deep Love

In 2004, in China, a literature channel was put out that put out a chapter of a novel each day by texting

The SMS style for writing has been shaped by the limitations of SMS

Some SMS poets go beyond the texting limitations and add their own style to the writing

People have not seen the creative potential, but people are starting to notice that texting abbreviations actually helps raise tests scores

Children have to know the language to understand abbreviations in texting

Whether you like texting or don’t its not bad for our language its just the newest way to communicate and use the language

  Summary

When texting was introduced as a new technology it was met with a lot of criticism. People saw texting as a way for people to be lazy. Instead of writing out complete sentences and using the right punctuation they could just abbreviate everything. In doing this texters were considered to be “butchering” our language. Crystal writes that people only felt this way because texting was a new technology and a lot of people (especially the older generations) were afraid of what this new technology meant.

Crystal goes on to say that the main knock on texting was the amount of abbreviations people used when they texted. A further study of abbreviations in texting found that most people have abbreviations making up less than 20% of the messages they send. The majority of abbreviations are simple things such as shortening you to u or three to 3.

Crystal also writes that the same people that knock the younger generation for texting used abbreviations even more. In fact, Crystal writes that abbreviations have been around for hundreds of years going back all the way to IOU in 1618. Crystal also points out that the older generations were constantly using abbreviations. The only reason that they notice it more in the younger generations is because they never had text messaging to use to help with their sending of notes with abbreviations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-QQ7CPjbuo

This first video appeals to Pathos. The viewer feels the pain for Derrick Rose tearing his ACL and ending his season. The viewer also wants to see Derrick Rose return to glory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyN0aSjjkBk

This second video appeals to both Logos and Pathos. The commercial shows how St. Judes was able to save a child through their great research. It also makes you want to donate because of the emotions you feel for the child.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8QFxabvHVQ

This is one of my most favorite quotes from my most favorite movies. The words are truly powerful. We are afraid of how extraordinary we could be...

Hello my name is John Berglund. I grew up in Philadelphia, but moved out of the city when I was younger. I moved to Springfield, PA which is literally right on the border of Philadelphia. Growing up in Philadelphia the only option you have when it comes to sports teams is to follow the Philadelphia sports teams. Due to this I am a fan of all Philadelphia teams, but especially the Philadelphia Eagles.