Tweets, texts, and Times New Roman

To me, internet-based literacies and text-based literacies have always been categorized the same way in terms of sponsorship. I found my favorite books through friends, family, and libraries in the same way that I found my favorite sites through friends, family, and by browsing what little I could access through school networks. In middle school I had to read the newspaper for social studies, and in high school we had to look through online news articles every week and analyze what was happening in the world. Even as the curriculum switched from text-based to internet-based, our modes of learning are generally the same. We learn how to read by picking up a book or e-reader or some interactive JumpStart program, and we learn how to write by practicing spelling out our names in kindergarten and playing typing games in first grade. In elementary school I passed notes in class, and now I text to send the message.

The only ways these sponsorships differ is through their availability, the generation we grew up in, and how comfortable we are switching between casual and formal writing. For text-based literacy, even the poor can find a book in a public library or a magazine to leaf through in an office. Because public education is free K-12, students can access whatever they want or need to read, and are showed the classics in literature at the very least. Whether or not kids read these books is a matter of passion and curiosity, but it is always available to us. Internet-based literature is different. Not everyone has smart phones, iPads, or computers, and even if they do they might be limited to wifi only in Hot Spots like Starbucks or school. Some families can’t afford internet at home, or are too out of area for the networks to find them. If you can’t accustom yourself to how a computer works, it’s hard to use one for research and essay writing at school. And since schools limit the free range of where their students can visit on the web, finding sites they might enjoy like Facebook becomes tedious and hard to keep in touch with.

Generational gaps are another problem in differing text- and internet-based sponsorships. Students my age and my sister’s age were the last to really grow up without being practically born with an iPad in hand. The kids born in the 21st century can work smart phones better than I can, and everything is Apps and YouTube and FaceTime for them. I learned cursive in the third grade. I remember when YouTube had image-only fanmade music videos- not like how people now can illegally download videos and upload them in their own, new creations. My first cell phone was the Ladybug in 7th grade, that phone that only let you call home and 9-1-1, and I only got that because I was walking home from school every day. Now, I’m not saying that it isn’t easy to adapt to the new modes of literacy and social activity, if you’re willing to learn. I picked up texting and Facebook and blog sites like Tumblr just fine, and even though I don’t use Twitter I know how it works. I prefer physical copies of books to e-novels, but I can read online if it means saving a few bucks when I’m short on cash. My laptop is a touchscreen, and boy does it make video games easier when I can tap objects instead of trying to aim with a mouse. Webcomics, social justice issues, gifs, photoshop- all of this has been made available to me and everyone else for us to learn and grow as a techno-literate society. My grandfather loves the internet. He was made for the 21st century because he embraces the ability to find new ways of exploring media. My grandmother only has a smartphone because my uncle is paying for it. She’ll use an e-reader for long trips, but she would rather write letters than e-mail, and don’t even try to get her on Skype. When our great-aunt died, she texted me “going to the funeral, lol”. She meant lots of love. She didn’t know what lol stood for. I still don’t think she does.

Casual and formal writing is last on the list, but it’s probably the biggest issue with switching from text- to internet-based literacy. With text, it’s mostly school stuff, or handwritten letters, or creatively writing in a notebook. We’re very formal when we write with our hands, the one exception being shorthand. When we read physical texts, it’s published articles or books or syllabi, all things that are formal. The one exception here is text messages. Internet literature, though? The thing that sponsors online reading is Facebook posts, Tumblr bloggings, tweets, instant messaging through Skype, very short excerpts of giant news pieces. The new video is Vine, 6 short seconds that count as entertainment in our society. If a video is over 30 seconds long a lot of people will lose interest. Everything we enjoy online is short, sweet, and to the point. Instant gratification. We’re extremely casual because of this. It’s like talking to a friend. You use text speak, btw or lmao, and shorten word phrases from got to to gotta. Even in an academic setting, I will try to formally e-mail my teachers and they’ll shoot me back the response “c u there”. I’m not kidding- its horrifying out relaxed we are on the web. But at the same time, it’s normal. We accept it as a society. It’s a separate part of our language, something we use every day. People can share links at the click of a button, retweet a celebrity’s message, and nothing is private. We’re less formal because we’re talking amongst a crowd, not standing in front of one. There is no leader on the internet. No one is in charge; moderators don’t do much past occasionally banning a person from forums and sites, and even then all you need is a new e-mail address and you can make a new account. Unlike with our formal, physical form of writing, writing on the web is free reign to do whatever you want. As far as literacy goes, this is both good and bad. Formal pieces have evidence to back up their theses; casual pieces do not. If you don’t fact-check, you’re likely to become someone’s gullible fool, “trolled” online. Internet literacy sponsors are not teachers, they are peers.

Alright, so the big question is, who sponsors my literacy? What did I do growing up to decide I wanted to teach English? Pre-K, I was already into Dr. Suess and a little-known show called “Shelley Duvall’s Bedtime Stories”, and I had an active imagination that gave me the thirst to explore other worlds. The same way Steve and Blue would hop inside of a book, so would I. By third grade, I was a huge reader of Nancy Drew mysteries and R.L. Stine’s “Goosebumps” series. My biggest sponsor for these books was the fact that my parents had two giant bookshelves full of children’s books my mom had gotten in England, and then over the years it was also filled with her romance and mystery novels, and my dad’s sports books and horror novels. Because I wasn’t at the level of reading Dean Koontz or Stephen King yet, I found a used bookstore by my sister’s gymnastics club and began immersing myself in the horror fiction of R.L. Stine. 4th and 5th grade I was still reading him, although I’d gone up a level to his Fear Street series, and I was also reading Harry Potter thanks to the first movie coming out. I saw it and immediately had to read about this boy with the lightning scar. All throughout elementary school I was also an avid fan of Pokemon, and used the school library to read the short books they had on Pikachu’s adventures that were based off of the cartoon. I even learned how to read the Japanese comics, manga, in 4th grade, because I was a fan of Card Captor Sakura and had found the book at Borders. Having so much access to books and media both at home and at school is what got me reading. It wasn’t until my 7th grade year that I really started writing, though. That year our English teacher assigned us to create books like Beowolf, picture books with a fantastical story. When I was told that mine was the best written in class, I felt pride. All of that reading had paid off to make me adept for writing. I decided I wanted to continue pursuing writing, and because I’ve always been into the anime community I found fan fiction sites that got me started. It helped that my best friend also loved reading and writing, so we would write short stories together and swap books. Most of my sponsorships have stayed the same, between good teachers and fellow literature addicted friends and family members. In high school, I also began role-playing on Gaia Online, and then in college I found the art of causal blogging through Tumblr. Because it was more social and I could learn about things that school and my inner circle didn’t teach me, I found these sites both informative and enjoyable. The sponsorship of my internet literacy is being able to expand my social links and participate in modes of literature that were otherwise unavailable to me.

If you’ll notice, the reason my featured picture is the host of The Talking Dead is because he also hosts a gameshow called @Midnight, where comedians perform for points by using Twitter. If our literacy has evolved so much that we now have television shows based off of social media, then this sure is a time to be alive.