The Evolution of the Written Word

During our country's first century, letters were sometimes the only communication afforded family members, separated by miles and oceans. About a decade ago I began hearing grumblings about the demise of the written word. Concerned folks were complaining that youngsters and adults were no longer writing letters.

In the last century telephones were replacing the need for letters, but letters were still being written. Children participated in pen-pal programs, enriching their insight into other cultures, while practicing their writing skills. My own mother, now eighty, had a pen-pal from Australia, when she was a young girl.

When I was a teenager, I was probably the exception to the rule for my generation. I wrote letters all the time. Our family had moved to a remote location, which didn't include a phone line. I soon learned that to receive a letter, I had to first write one, and mail it.

But as the current younger generation began to grow up, new rumbles about the demise of the written word were again heard, with the blame now focused on cell phones and the internet.

I must disagree with that line of thinking. Just about everyone is writing these days. They are writing blogs, how to articles, content for websites, emails, forums, message boards, MySpace and Facebook profiles, content for Associated Content, everywhere.

Suddenly, everyone is a writer. Information overload has morphed into communications overload.

Cell phone text messaging is now taking the brunt of the blame for those who continue to see doom and gloom. A year or so ago the culprit was ICQ, Yahoo Chat, and those other online chat programs, which popularized text speak, bringing us those annoying shortcuts like cyl, b4, and lmao.

My son, now twenty-nine, grew up with the computer. He was six years old when the first computer came into our home. By the time he was twelve he was online exploring Prodigy. And when he was nineteen, we had our first real internet connection (aside from being online with Prodigy).

He text messages, and will use those annoying shortcuts. But, he also sends me emails, which for his generation, is the same as writing a letter. I am happy to say, his emails aren't littered with text speak, nor are his sister's.

The written word is not headed for extinction. It is bursting with new vivacity, evolving and touching more lives than in previous centuries. From a historical perspective, it was not that long ago that literacy amongst the general public was the exception, not the rule.

Rejoice, there is a new generation of wordsmiths on the horizon, and they are prolific.