Sunday, December 7, 2008

Thoughts on MSN

My brain really isn't organized, so this post is just a scrapbook of things to say.

What has this software done to our new generation? I'm not going to talk about how MSN affects once health, but rather a mental perspective.

MSN allows us be someone we're not. You might be a smart and careful person in real-life, while on MSN, you can be wild and stupid. This is a typical example because I meet someone from my school on MSN and we have a great conversation and each of us has a lot to talk about. I finally meet the person in school, he/she sees me, and just turns away. Once I get back on MSN, he/she once again starts to chat like a madman/woman. In this case, does this mean the MSN personality is what the person actually want to be? Is the MSN personality their ideal image of them self?

Another aspect is the "1337" language. A majority of the people on MSN (including myself) are using numerous acronyms like "thx, wat, wtf, etc." Does this affect their English writing skills? Will people subconsciously use these acronyms in a formal essay? And what the hell is "~~~".

Though there a lot of interesting things to discover on MSN. Simply go on MSN, and carefully analyze all your friend's personal messages. This tells a lot about the person. And of course their actual MSN name and display picture are also important, but personal messages tend to be changed frequently.

This is a very informal post.

Question of the day: Which would you consider more important? The ability to speak a language or the ability to write it?

10 comments:

Unknown said...

the ability to speak it. For you can hire someone to write it.

Unknown said...

It's true that in some cases, people will have two different personalities on MSN and in real life, but I think the majority of the time, people just find it easier to be themselves over the internet. It may be due to the fact that there is no involvement in physical communication that makes some people feel more comfortable expressing themselves over the internet. They may just be shy in person or aren't that great at speaking. Therefore, they're probably not pretending to be anything they're not, but they just find it easier to be their true selves on MSN.

Using acronyms and abbreviated terms makes typing a whole lot easier and faster on MSN. However, as long as the person is aware that it's not proper english and do not get into the habit of using these jargons outside of MSN, it shouldn't affect their writing skills. Plus, I rarely see anyone use "lol", "brb", etc. on formal essays.

Although some people may argue that MSN has a negative impact in the lives of many, I think it is one of the most remarkable creations. It allows us to connect with anyone, anywhere, and brings the whole world together in a global village. And as you mentioned, the use of personal messages informs us of what our friends are doing, how they are feeling, if anyone wants to hang out, what flourishes they're practicing, etc. MSN has connected a lot of people in ways previous inventions could ever do. About 40%of the people on my contact list are people I don't even know in person =P

Anyway, I'd love to write more about MSN but I'm going to stop for now and begin posting a response to the question of the day.

-G

Unknown said...

And here's my reply to your question of the day:

If I were to select one, it would have to be the ability to speak. Simply because you need to be able to communicate orally everywhere (i.e. to ask for directions, to make an order at a restaurant, to use a patter in a magic routine, etc.). Writing is important, but it's not as much of a necessity as speaking. You can live without MSN, writing blogs, posting on internet forums, etc. But you're screwed in life if you can't talk.

-G

Anonymous said...

perhaps this person finds you intimidating in person...

some people do end up using these MSN acronyms in their formal essays, but, no offence, these individuals tend to not be that wonderful in essay writing to begin with. however, i must agree with MIND in that the simple use of such acronyms should not damage a person's ability to write well. that is to say, considering that acronyms are simply short forms of the actual word, or phrase, if they are used correctly then it should not hinder the individual's ability to write coherently.

for example, if the person types "i'll brb, i gtg do hwk" that will not affect the individual's writing skills as it still makes sense; it is still grammatically correct but it's just cut down in "length". however, if a person were to type "i need brb, gtg hwk lots" then obviously there is something wrong with this sentence when expanded into its full version. such individuals are most likely either unsure of what the acronym used actually stands for, or is completely oblivious to the grammatical error that is in the sentence and will probably not even know when it is expanded out.

personally, i believe acronyms used on MSN are, as MIND states, to help make communcating electronically more efficiently.

as for your QD, speaking a language is more important. taking the chinese language for example, numerous people can speak the language fluently but not necessarily be able to write everything down as the characters are so complicated and numerous that it is difficult to remember them if one does not familiarize one's self with them on a frequent basis. furthermore, speaking is more important because if all else fails, writing can be replaced with diagrams to explain to another person one's thoughts, etc.

Unknown said...

Wow, two amazing answers! I love reading these, keep it up MIND and whoever you are (though I have an idea of who you are).

Unknown said...

Ugh, I need to figure out how to change my account name to "MINDFRUCK" =P

Unknown said...

Haha, yes MIND.

Unknown said...

It's supposed to be "MINDFRUCK" -_- Just call me Garry =P

-G

M15SCH13VOUS said...

And what the hell is "~~~".

LMFAOLMFAOLMFAOLMFAOLMFAOLMFAOLMFAO^!!!

Unknown said...

Lol!! xD