Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Review by Richard L. Weaver II, PhD.
Baron, a professor of linguistics at American University in Washington, DC, suggests that online and mobile technologies --- instant messaging, cell phones, multitasking, Facebook, blogs, and wikis --- Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World As a result of focusing on contemporary language technologies, Baron pursues the answers to two questions: What are we, as speakers and writers, doing to ourselves by virtue of new communication technologies, and do our linguistic practices impact the way we think and relate to other people? Baron looks specifically at language in an online world. Of particular interest to me, because of my background in speech communication, was her Chapter 4, "Are Instant Messages Speech?" Her answer is no, even though there are speechlike elements, and the informal medium of IM assumes some of the dimensions of more formal, written language. Although written for everyone, this is a sophisticated book full of history, studies, quotations, examples, and evidence for her observations and conclusions. If you want a serious book that examines contemporary language technologies in a serious manner, this book has some excellent insights and observations.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World

In Always On, Naomi S. Baron reveals that online and mobile technologies--including instant messaging, cell phones, multitasking, Facebook, blogs, and wikis--are profoundly influencing how we read and write, speak and listen, but not in the ways we might suppose. Baron draws on a decade of research to provide an eye-opening look at language in an online and mobile world. She reveals for instance that email, IM, and text messaging have had surprisingly little impact on student writing. Electronic media has magnified the laid-back "whatever" attitude toward formal writing that young people everywhere have embraced, but it is not a cause of it. A more troubling trend, according to Baron, is the myriad ways in which we block incoming IMs, camouflage ourselves on Facebook, and use ring tones or caller ID to screen incoming calls on our mobile phones. Our ability to decide who to talk to, she argues, is likely to be among the most lasting influences that information technology has upon the ways we communicate with one another. Moreover, as more and more people are "always on" one technology or another--whether communicating, working, or just surfing the web or playing games--we have to ask what kind of people we are becoming, as individuals and as family members or friends, if the relationships we form must increasingly compete for our attention with digital media.

Click here for more information about Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World