If you said, "Who's Mark Bauerlein?" and "What does he have to say?" then maybe we're getting somewhere with this rhetorical analysis business. In "Why Gen-Y Johnny Can't Read Nonverbal Cues," Bauerlein argues that social networking via technology has led to a deterioration in face-to-face social skills. Many of you have already told me you can't live without Facebook or texting, but did you know that sometimes you're sending out strong signals that you aren't very interested in where you are and who you're with when you use these technologies inappropriately? Did you know that face-to-face interactions require sophisticated social skills that include effectively sending and interpreting facial expressions, posture, gestures, and tone of voice?
In your groups, discuss and then respond to this article in two ways on two different posts: First, respond as if you are a person who agrees with everything Bauerlein says. Next, pretend that you are someone who disagrees with everything he says. This is the Believing and Doubting game: You try to find all the reasons to agree with someone, and then you try to find all the reasons to disagree.
Brisbane
14 years ago
Agree
ReplyDeleteWhen talking to other people through text,e-mail, Facebook and the other websites we use to communicate,we don't know exactly what the other person is thinking or feeling. For all we know they could be having a bad day and come off as they are having the best day in the world. We also believe that teenagers just texts because it's just easier to get a hold of someone through text and you don't have to deal with the awkward pauses in the conversation. We do communicate 24/7 because we can just text in the middle of the night instead of actually talking to someone in the middle of the night. Teenagers these days don't talk on the phone, we text and Facebook.
Becca, Tessa, Darryl, Natalie
Bauerlein says that today's generation uses technology more often than any other has. The average teenage cell phone user sends 2,272 text messages per month. So what does this mean for us? Well he feels that we are losing our nonverbal communication skills. Let's analyze that statement, 50 years ago you had letters before text messages, and phone calls occurred less frequently then today. So are we really at a disadvantage from past generations? We don't think so. Just because we text a lot doesn’t mean that we aren’t proficient at communicating or having face to face conversations.
ReplyDeleteFayeann Hurley, Amanda Edwards, Clarissa Marshand, Alex Bellshner
ReplyDeleteIn the article "Why Gen-Y Johnny Can't Read Nonverbal Cues" by Mark Bauerlein it is evident he is opposed to the amount of technology teenagers are using now-a-days. He argues that teenagers are spending too much time socializing via text instead of face to face. Why does this matter? The lives of teenagers are more hectic than they have ever been before; they have higher expectations and more accomplishments to achieve. His argument is not well supported because constant communication between people via text can help to increase literacy. With constantly having things to do, it is hard for a teenager to sit down and have a face to face chat with someone for more than 10 minutes. This is not because they are incapable of doing so, they simply don't have the time. So with as much as teenagers have on their plate, text communication has served to be very beneficial for everybody.
"Nearly all of their communication tools involve the exchange of written words alone." People today don't react to each other in the same aspect that they used to; instead they are relying on the technology provided to relay information and communicate with others. This generation doesn't use body language, facial expression, and other non verbal behaviors because they are too used to communicating over text and emails where that kind of behavior is unnecessary. This technology issue is now even interfering in the business world; some business have even went as far as banning technology during meetings just to keep the attention of their employees. If this keeps up, eventually people aren't going to know how to communicate with each other on a face to face basis because they will be to used to letting technology communicate for them.
Disagree
ReplyDeleteWe disagree that when you use Facebook or texting when with other people you are showing them that you're not interested. We feel like this isn't true because even thought we are interested in what the person is saying to us we are just too addicted to these things to not use them any time of the day that we feel is needed. For example, how many people could go a day without facebook? Not many. Although it doesn't have ALOT of stuff to do on it, it's addicting for some reason. We all like to know what each other is doing and how our lives are going, it's a way to stay in touch with people we haven't seen in forever or don't have the easiest access to talk to. Another reason why we don't agree is that even though you can take away technology at "topless meetings", it doesn't guarantee that the people in the meetings will pay attention. Maybe the person speaking is boring or maybe an audience member has something else on their mind. Whatever the case is, taking these technologies away is not a guarantee that the speaker will have the audience's undivided attention. Body language is one way of showing that you're not interested in something but texting is not apart of that, it's just apart of our everyday world.
-Tessa, Darryl, Becca, Natalie
Bauerlein is correct in thinking that this generation uses technology as a way to get out of communicating face to face with other people. Texting takes away the awkwardness of silence in conversations and you have time to think about something to say before responding. We agree that using texting or IMing is an easy way out of having to talk face to face with each other. We hide behind the technology in order to make things easier on ourselves. If you are scared to say something to another person, we are more likely to say it over text or email than we would be to say it directly to them.
ReplyDeleteHaley
Matthew
Annah
Lorna
Xuan
Agree
ReplyDeleteWe agree because our generation sometimes does not seem to understand that some behaviors are rude. One example would be texting during a conversation with another person. It shows an unawareness of people, and a disregard for social norms. You mark yourself as uneducated and showing that you don’t know simple social cues. Violation of social norms of other cultures can cause major breakdowns in communication. If you can’t read someone’s social cues people don’t want to be around you as much. We as a society place a high standard on how a person conducts themselves face to face and committing a faux pa can keep you from moving up in work or even getting a job, because most of the bosses are form a different generation.
Disagree
Although this is a problem it is not always generation y. Adults answer there cell phones at inappropriate times and sometimes it is just a miss use of the technology by society. A lot of times the older generation has a aversion to technology. Texting although rude is better than taking a phone call. You could also make the argument that this is a societal change and what the older generation considers rude will soon be the social norm. If you are sitting with a friend and they answer a text our generation doesn’t think they are rude. It is also quite a leap to say that just because a person texts a lot they cannot pick up social cues.
ethan, palmer, rob, kaylee
ReplyDeleteWe agree with his argument in which that, the use of portable communication devises in meetings, important social gatherings and such other events is rude and they should either be turned off or not brought period. The use of the "Silent Language" has become a thing of the past this generation doesn't look at a person in the eye when they are being spoken to. We feel the need to let anyone and everyone know exactly what we are doing at a specific point in time. Phones, laptops, and other portable devices have become a default when we have nothing else to do. Conversations we are having with our friends on facebook, or text have become priority number one instead of the person who is trying to have a face to face conversation with us.
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ethan, palmer, rob, and kayleeIt's important to keep in touch with our friends, family, and other social acquaintances and sometimes our phones, and the computer are all we have to reach them. Like back in the 50's when a close friend moved away they were gone there was no way to get into touch with them. Even in more recent times communication was harder, more of hassle, to contact someone in an adjacent state or a hundred miles away. Not everyone knows how to text now either older people still have a hard time trying to adjust to our way of communicating. If you think it's bad now just try and look down the road 15 maybe 20 years from now and try to imagine how bad it could get, so we're not at "rock bottom"...yet.
ReplyDelete1)
ReplyDeleteThe professor is making good use arguments and supportive thesis throughout the whole text. He is stating that generation Y is spoiled due to the excessive indulgence into new technology. To illustrate, teenagers usually get distracted from the listener engaging text messaging, e-mail, and instant messaging. He regards these styles of speech as "silent speech."
2)
The professor is not obviously doing a good job taking into consideration all sides of the matter. For the most part, he is talking about disadvantages of technology for generation Y. He is obsessed with the mere sense that technology cannot have positive sides other than negative. He should try to assess his view on technology thinking all aspects of the question.
Brooke McNulty, Thomas Czaja, and Jovid Kamolov