I believe that new age communication technology may have a large impact on the vocabulary of the current generation, but not all may be made out to completely be their fault.
More and more as time goes on, technology grows. As technology grows further, and people adapt more to the changes, new sources of entertainment are revealed. Computer technology has grown; current video games and consoles have become superior over their predecessors, and regarding cinematics, special effects are improving. In this, virtual reality is becoming more like reality.
Literature is used for writing, and refers to development of creative imagination. Literature involves work with non-fictional works, as well as poetry and drama. I think that as newer technology rises, the literature source of entertainment starts to shrink in society, especially in teens.
I do not believe that newer technology makes teens change anything in their literary senses. With the development of instant messaging, Facebook, text messaging, or even emails, it allows the mass group of new technology users to familiarize each other with a type of new-speak that starts out with small changes of vocabulary to promote ease of communication. As small changes are brought into this sub-culture, they become more socially acceptable over time, and are stockpiled to become a whole lesser language.
Newer generations are born into technological scenes that are in contrast to other generations. With this, people develop their life and skills revolving around the resources they are given. The ease of pulling out a cell phone to contact a friend in the next room may be tempting, and as more people do it, it does become widely accepted, and generally standardized. It is arguable that when humanity created their first language, it was a means for a new way of communication; as violence, sign language, and physical interaction are all different ways to exchange intent and ideas. I do believe that the recent generations are losing their senses of face to face interactions, as it may be more awkward rather than to just message the other of our idea, but who is to say that language is deteriorating? Comparing the idea to the sense of evolution, newer ways of interaction are growing because people take what they have and shape it to better adapt their environment.
In the novel 1984, new-speak is incorporated into society as a way to adapt life to work around the laws of Big Brother. Throughout the novel, the reader learns that new-speak brings all dynamic forms for descriptive words down to its basic means, avoiding the cost of misinterpretation of a message. The reader can compare this sub-language to the “teen-speak” language, finding that although there is contrast in the two types of language, they both aspire to change into something more significant to their environment.
Newer ways of communication are not forcing anyone to change anything, but people choose to make the change because they can, and why shouldn’t they? Personally I prefer to maintain the standard for phonetics in my conversations on Facebook and MSN, and nothing is making me change to quick-speak. Although, I can admit that my vocabulary is less than bountiful in comparison to the average vocabulary of an individual one century ago.
