Sunday Story #8: NC thesis

Online conversation is to oral conversation as a mask is to a face.

I believe that this thesis was trying to say that online conversation tries to be oral conversation and it does a pretty good job of mimicking it, but it will never be the real thing. I am in partial agreement with this thesis.

But if I had to choose what type of mask online conversation would be, I would go with either a realistic silicone mask or a tight-fitting latex mask.

The reason for its (feel free to decide whether I am talking about masks or online conversation) creation is to be an extremely efficient substitute for the real thing, when the real thing is not available.

I also think that, for what texting is, it has evolved and become almost a second language and as such should not be seen as inferior to oral conversation but simply as another type of communication.

Here I have a Ted Talk called “Txtng is Killing Language. JK!!!” given by John McWhorter. In his Ted Talk, McWhorter explains that texting, or online conversation, is only similar to writing in its mechanics and is in fact what he calls “fingered speech.”

The reason why I only partially agree with this thesis,is because I merely concur with the base idea for it. I agree that on the surface, texting and online communication seems like only a half-baked version of oral communication. But in reality, it is just a completely different form of oral communication that is its own thing. So instead of saying that online conversation is to oral conversation as a mask is to a face, we should get used the fact that there is a new and fresh, ever-evolving face in town.