Hieroglyphics of a hurried generation

My brother decided to do a little internet investigating about my sister and I this morning in an attempt to alleviate his boredom at work he calls me up and casually goes. Did you know that there is another Sand-e who went to your university at around the same you did? Intrigued by this “other” mystery Sand-e I set out to find her. I stumbled upon this and realized I’d found her.
Being an 80’s baby I can not begin to fathom life with out computers. So they weren’t as powerful or as visually stimulating as today’s games but they got the job done. Any kid on the block who had an Atari was a necessity if not a valuable member of your play group. They were a mechanism for transcendence from childhood into adulthood, a right of passage. I remember being obsessed with the colorful stick figures that lit up the TV screen during a game of Pac-Man or tennis. Looking around me today, I’ve come to realize that times are changing and that the newest coolest and most basic commodity has become MSN. Its popularity compares to that of bill gates in the computer world, the king of pop during the 80’s and Crayola during kindergarten years. As a matter of fact MSN is a rudimentary part of any 8 year old’s life. MSN is no longer a craze but has been integrated into every day life. Not only is it that, a craze, but it is slowly but surely becoming the easiest fastest way of getting in touch with “anyone”. Just like the toaster changed breakfast forever and the remote control revolutionized TV watching so too has MSN and its effect on language. Net lingo is the wave of the future. It ranges from the usual : ) indicating a smile to “lol” denoting laughing out loud. Acronyms are an intricate and major part of computer and Cyber-space culture. They represent common phrases that people say to one another but are generally too lazy to type. Upper case and lower case typing have become equally as important as acronyms. WRITING FULL SENTENCES IN CAPITAL LETTERS IMPLIES SHOUTING OR EXCLAMATOIN. Many people these days accuse today’s youth of lacking ingenuity and creativity, I believe it is quite the opposite. The key element to this realization lies in the acknowledgment of the fact that creativity and ingenuity do exist but the difference lies in the venues through which they are expressed. Before the TV it was mainly through writing, drawing and thinking. Even though these venues are still in use today, technology has brought around other venues. Cyber-space is most certainly one of these venues. While many of us react to a joke by slapping our thigh and throwing our head back in laughter. Today’s youth have found a different means of communicating these emotions using LOL, ROTFL and LMAO. To the naked eye this is laziness at its best but I believe it is the willingness to venture where language hasn’t gone before. Laughing out loud (LOL), rolling on the floor laughing (ROTFL), and laughing my, er, ankles off (LMAO) are just a few of the many expressive acronyms and shorthand used to convey laughter, anger, approval, disapproval, love, hate--and everything in between. Who says technology and the computer revolution no longer allows youth to exhibit creativity and emotion? Not only have today’s youth found a faster way of communicating activities such as laughing out loud but they have also managed to make an emotionless realm (Cyber-space) come to life with human emotion. Acronyms and emoticons have quickly become the hieroglyphics of a hurried generation.

She was me. : P