Breonna Walker

ENC 1101
Professor Shari McGriff
3 March 2019

Does Social Media and Texting Cause Communication Declination?

The use of social media and texting has most definitely enlarged society’s social

interaction and vocabulary. Studies show that the average person sends an average of 94 text

messages per day. Although some may believe that the use of texting and social media has

broken the English language and caused a declination of face to face interaction, texting and

social media has indeed opened a more broad range of communication, it gives us the

opportunity to enlarge our vocabulary and also gives us the opportunity to mentally click with

people who may not be able to have direct face to face interaction with us.

People believe that texting and social media has limited the ways in which people

communicate, however it actually opens a much more broad range of communication. A quote in

They Say I Say by Graff and Birkenstein states that, “Blogs and Social Media allows us to reach

many people all at once. The internet makes us more efficient”(169). In this case, as well as

many others, social media is used to reach many people at once. People from all over are able to

see and respond to something posted on to social media. Whether it is a informational post, a

flyer for a birthday party, or a picture from your vacation to Hawaii last summer, way more

people will be able to interact a quick post rather than face to face interaction.

Although the things that we say in text differ from the way that we speak in person,

texting and social media definitely gives us opportunities to expand our vocabulary. There are
games, apps, and even autocorrect to help us daily with our vocabulary. Is Texting Killing the

English Language written by John McWhorter states that, “In the old days, we didn’t much write

like talking because there was no mechanism to reproduce the speed of conversation. But texting

and instant messaging do - and a revolution has begun” Texting has adapted its own language

through the combination of the need for quick responses and literal meanings of abbreviations.

English is a constant revolving language, for example we don’t talk the same way that Romeo

and Juliet talked in their time.

People believe that there are dangers in the use of electronic communication, however it

actually gives us opportunities to interact with people who may not physically be able to have

direct face to face interaction with us. In a speech given by John McWhorter on TED Talks he

states, “​ And so texting actually is evidence of a balancing act that young people are using today,

not consciously, of course, but it's an expansion of their linguistic repertoire” McWhorter is

arguing that texting and social media actually “expands” our communication skills and abilities.

There are many groups and social media accounts that suffice all types of different interests,

which gives everybody chances to interact with people who share the same desires.

The opportunities for a expanded vocabulary, social interaction, and more broad range of

communication definitely outweighs the dangers of electronic communication that people

believe in. The use of texting and social media is revolving our culture whether we like it or not.

In that case we must fasten our seatbelts and see how far it takes us 50 years from now.
 Works Cited

Graff, Gerald, et al. ​"They Say / I Say": the Moves That Matter in Academic Writing.​ W.W.

Norton & Company, 2018.

McWhorter, John. “Txtng Is Killing Language. JK!!!” ​TED​,

www.ted.com/talks/john_mcwhorter_txtng_is_killing_language_jk.