I usually spend about 30-60 minutes each day discussing things on various message boards. Posts to boards have certain characteristics; you usually want them to be as clear, simple, and above all concise as possible. I also spend a good part of each day writing for other things, mainly my classes and job. I've noticed that lately my overall style of writing had become more and more similar to the style in which I write message board posts. This is a big help when answering short paragraph questions for classes or writing memos and whatnot for work, but it's a bit of a problem when I'm trying to write long essays. The information density of my writing is usually so high that I say everything with a very low number of words, which means I often have to go back and 'pad' my essays a little. Some of my professors in my more 'liberal arts' classes have said that my writing has become too dry and impersonal, while most of my science professors think that my abstracts and proposals are fabulous. I've also notices lately that writers for popular magazines and newspapers tend to waste quite a lot of space and use many unnecessary words. I often finish reading articles and find myself annoyed that the author took multiple pages when they could have conveyed the same information in a few paragraphs. Has anyone else been affected like this by their time on boards?
that's how I always write/talk. always can be a problem. especially with writing papers. my advisor says i am much too breif in my papers. i say everything but i say it to quickly. yep. that too. before i ever even used the boards. reminds me of a story. once this guy asked me "is you brother on the track team". I responded "yes". there was a moment of silence, and they he said "man, you sure are talkative". but that's how I am, breif and to the point. you'll never see me with one of those 80line post that some people here tend to use Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I'm extremely brief too. I usually use about 10 to 30 words per day when I'm talking (no kidding). Here is... well... another story...Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
The boards don't have much of an impact on the way I write. Though, the books I read do. I also think your claim that your 'ideas are so dense, that they don't take up enough space,' to be BS. Part of writing a paper is to develop an idea rather than just expose the surface of it. That means you have to bring together other ideas and articulate the whole thing together. The goal is to show a fluid path of thought. Any dolt can respond simply yes or no to an essay topic, and then give a reason why. But I'd imagine that this is not what your English teacher wants. He probably wants you to be a magician. To 'show the truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion'. Being incabale of this does not make you a better scientist, but actually detracts from your skill. You're a handicapp, my friend.
I don't think I've ever posted anything of essay length here, so I don't know why you feel so qualified to judge my writing style. You are mistaken in your assumption that my essays tend to be shorter because I 'only scratch the surface' or don’t 'show a fluid path of thought.' In general my essays present just as much information and are just as lucid as other, longer essays; the only difference is that I have less fluff. I feel that this is a good thing because I believe writing should be as concise as possible, but apparently some people feel that it makes my writing boring and impersonal. I'm especially maddened by many of the non-textbook books that I have to read for politics and history classes. Hundreds and hundreds of pages, all full of…very little. The information density in these books tends to be maddeningly low.
When an author is paid by the word and his submitted work is valued by its estimated word contend they tend to become a bit more descriptive, or as you say, they pad their works. I find that the writing with sciforums tends to help me in the ability to convey what I wish within the terms of putting it to text. It has been excellent practice in that sense.
i always worry that kids growing up with the internet are going to forget how to spell and write properly. NOt that all my grammar or spelling is perfect, but imake an effort. It seems that many people now don't. for example: sk8er : skater L33t : Elite ppl: people i've seen people do these and more with pen and paper as if on the computer. The deliberate misspelling on the part of musicans (read: rappers) probably doesn't help either.
There is no doubt that the internet is changing how we communicate. Where lol has meaning but is nowhere in any dictionary that will show such. Our language is changing, as it always has. Who is to say that is for the worst? I am sure you are aware that every year new words are added to our "official language". If you could come back to read these words, with the understanding of present day word structure in 300 years they would make little more since that do Shakespears' words today.
u wd nvr g3t m3 sp34k1n like th4t. Perhaps! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Seriously it's more effort typing like that, than just typing in the way I'm use to reading or writing. Well actually I don't write, I can't anymore, my hands are so use to typing I find that if I try to write by hand all my letters are in the wrong order caused purely because my order is meant for millisecond delay key presses.
That's why every one of my written sentences is ended with a series of exclamation points followed by ones.
