Phonology
(A Blog by Will Langford)
At this very moment, there’s a good chance you have one in your
hand, your pocket, backpack, purse or at least within arms reach. Or worse yet,
you’re using it while watching television and reading this blog right now.
That’s right, I’m talking about cell phones. Mass-manufactured, portable
plastic pods once heralded as the “greatest leap forward” in modern technology.
“Imagine being able to talk to anyone, anywhere, without a cord or cable to tie
you down. In the car, on the bus- you’ll be able to communicate everywhere!”
Everywhere is right. Text messaging, e-mail,
internet, all at the tips of our fingers- it seems virtually impossible not to
be linked-in in one way or another. To that effect, at every turn, we’re
enticed into yet another media by which we can “participate” in whatever whim
is on the national pulse. “That’s right, just use hash tag #Beiber2012 and you
can be part of the on-going Beiber-Nation conversation!
Kon-ver-sey-shuhn. From its
Latin roots, all the way up until that fatal moment when the Finnish Matti
Makkonen (credited with the invention of texting) dipped his hand into the
mobile media market, “conversation” has implied orality, spoken word, the
face-to-face exchange of words and ideas. That time has come and gone…haywire.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m guilty of
wallowing in the modern matrix of tech toys, twitter and walking with my head
down so I can text with two hands on the QWERTY keyboard of my EVO Shift. I
have well over two thousand friends on facebook. I am definitely guilty of
watching TV with my laptop atop my lap and texting all at once. That doesn’t
mean I prefer it.
If someone knocked on your door right
now, I’d wager that you’d be pretty surprised if it weren’t the mailman. Maybe,
like me, you’d even be surprised if your phone rang, as opposed to the chirp of
the text message we’ve grown so used to. “Can I call you later?” “Mind if I
stop by sometime? I’ll text when I’m on my way.” Remember when people just
called or stopped by? Yeah, sometimes your apartment/house was a bit on the
messy side, but I’ll bet you appreciated the company. Lets bring it back.
If you do a little web roving, you’ll see that yet another craze
is sweeping the nation, a game called “Phone-Stacking”. Here’s a craze I’m
totally in line with. When you’re out for dinner with friends, stack your
phones on the center of the table at the beginning of your meal. Whoever picks
up their phone to check it for any reason (sorry Mom/Dad!) picks up the check.
BOOM. A lesson in etiquette. I think the blogger who came up with that idea has
her finger on the pulse of something important.
We might never go back to the days where face-to-face communication
reigns supreme over technology. Talking in person just isn’t as fast, as
neatly-wrapped, or accessible (in some cases) as its counterpart. Face-to-face
communication is…
If you’ve forgotten what its benefits are, here’s the perfect
opportunity to let the next message you send read: “Hey, why don’t we meet up
and talk about this? It might be…”
THANKS FOR
READING!
Born in
Detroit, MI, Will Langford, also known as Will “The Poet” Langford, is a
graduate of Michigan State University and a graduate student at Pennsylvania
State University. Will was recently featured in Time Magazine Online (“The
Poetry of Detroit”).
You can check
out more of Will’s writing on his YouTube channel
and follow him
on Twitter!
@willthepoet
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