Rising Virtual Community

After reading Howard Rheingold's "Introduction" to the idea of the expanding virtual communities I was actually astonished at the age of computer conferencing systems. Since 1985 people from all over the world have been communicating with each other via the internet. They have garnered intense social intimacy once never thought of without being face to face with a person. People consumed with WELLs (Whole Earth 'Lectronic Links) have got together for support groups and judicallily to get legal rights that were once not intitled to them. This world is ever growing and getting more advanced everyday.

"Medium of Netspeak" what about it!

After reading David Crystal's article"Medium of Netspeak" it is clear that he has a noticeably negative view about the new generations consumption with the electronic medium. He feels as though the "language" used over the Internet is very limiting to the expanding world which is getting increasingly more computer savvy. The language barriers and expressions given on modern keyboards are very subjugating when the many dialects and languages are considered. David Crystal calls this new way of language speech writing. Crystal later showed a parallel difference between speech and writing and shows how the "speech writing" concept in its self is oxymoronic.