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Alexis Brinson
March 26, 2018
Composition 1
Prof. McGriff
The Effects of Texting and Social Media
on Human Communication and the English Language

Digital communication has expanded communication over time. Although some people

view social media and texting as something that has expanded communication, I think that social

media and texting has limited the communication between people and has damaged the use of

English because it limits human interaction, human expression, and it waste time.

Social media and texting has limited the use of human interaction. Instead of talking face

to face we find out what someone is doing through a screen. Time should be spent getting to

know people in person, so we can build connections with them and develop better relationships.

The authors Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein talk about this in their book They Say, I Say

“...communicating online tends to undermine true conversations...” (170). People are not really

having a conversation online they are mainly just reacting to certain situations.

Even though some people may think social media and texting broadens human

expression, it limits human expression or emotion. When I am texting someone, I do not feel like

the text message is telling the person how I feel. It feels limited; if I was talking in person and I

was upset about something they could tell that I was upset because of the sound of my voice.

When it comes to the writing texts messages people use abbreviations and write short messages.

Although some see it as something that “...has added a new dimension to language use…”

(Lunsford et al. 901).

Although people see social media and texting as a way to keep in touch with what is

going on in the world and the loved ones lives they can end up wasting a lot of time doing this.

This time could be spent doing something valuable such as spending time in person with friends
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and family or improving yourself as a person. Steven Pinker in his article Mind Over Mass

Media that “...solution...to develop strategies of self-control.” (Lunsford et al. 1031). We should

limit our time on social media gradually and get on occasionally.

The use of social media and texting has limited how humans interact with each other,

limits human expression, and it is a waste of time. Social media can be used but we need to think

about its role in our lives and whether we want to let it control us.
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Works Cited
Moller, Marilyn, et al, editors. Everyone’s An Author. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2017.

Crystal, David. “2b or Not 2b?” Moller and et al, pp. 899-907.

Pinker, Steven. “Mind Over Mass Media.” Moller and et al, pp. 1029-1032.

Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say / I Say. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2017.