Better late than never...

Hey all--
I apologize for being a bit late to the (blogging) party. I had some technical difficulties (i accidentally deleted the email inviting me to contribute to this blog) and most of my time last week was spent searching for a new apartment (a time consuming and tedious, if not nearly impossible, task). I plan on playing catch up tomorrow and composing the monster of all blog posts in response to many of the class's posts on the previous books we have read. I did want to quickly mention that when reading Chapters 19 and 20 of Communication and Cyberspace, I was reminded of an article that was in the New York Times last week. The article explores the idea that the way the online community often abbreviates words is causing a "compression" of our language.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/magazine/25wwln-safire-t.html?scp=1&sq=naomi+baron&st=nyt

I really enjoyed Chapter 19 by Judith Yaross Lee. I certainly agree that "a distinctive form of rhetoric has emerged in cyberspace." I was reminded of this Cingular commercial about a child who abbreviates nearly every word of the text messages she sends. Certainly the abbreviation of words happens not only in text messages, but also in emails and instant messages.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nIUcRJX9-o


I also read this article in The New York Times about a nerd who gets the courage to flirt with his crush through instant messaging, since he feels as though it is musch easier to express his feelings through his computer than it is face to face. Communicating online allows him to be much more suave than he ever would be in person.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/fashion/25love.html?scp=2&sq=smiley+face&st=nyt