Blogs, Online Communities, and Reading and Writing Skills

Cairncross presumed that since that online communication is primary written (although that may change thanks to the rise of video), reading and writing skills would improve out of necessity. Ineffective communicators would improve or be left behind, as would poor readers.

You can certainly find well written blogs, even well written blogs on the subject of writing blogs well. However, there is no shortage of popular blogs that are poorly written. In these cases, the blogger is usually either a respected expert in a non-academic field, or one whose theme is primarily visual with the writing visual and secondary.

Online communities are no different. In fact, while blogs are about the writing, communities are more focused on shared interests, and participants may be well qualified in the interest, but poorly equipped to write about it.

The Atlantic Monthly (Carr, 2008) featured an article that discussed the possibility that increased internet usage may negatively affect our ability to read long passages. The author writes that online reading is "chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles."

The communications revolution is changing the way we consume information, but Cairncross may have overlooked the extent to which it would change the way we process it. Is it possible that we will exchange grammar for efficiency, and clarity for convenience?


Carr, N. (2008). Is Google Making Us Stupid?. Retrieved September 27, 2008, from The Atlantic website:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google