"Don't Diss Blogs and Social Networking Sites." by Christina Clark

Clark, Christina. "Don't Diss Blogs and Social Networking Sites." Academic Search Premier.       EBSCO, Dec. 2009. Web. 19 Nov. 2011.

            Christina Clark’s talks about how blogging and social networking sites aren’t necessarily bad for the development of writing because they actually make young people use written communication more so than ever before. She gives statistical evidence to support her argument that people who write on blogs, or write on social networking sites are more likely to actually enjoy writing, and have more positive attitudes when it comes to writing. This is a valid point because more times than not, if someone is actually interested and enjoys doing something, the more probability there is that they will want to strive for excellence in that area. Her data concludes that as long as the individuals know when to use the correct writing, technology is actually a good thing for literary achievement. This article, in comparison to Andrew Sullivan’s “Why I Blog”, have stunning similarities because Sullivan gives more of the social and emotional side of why he loves to blog, while Clark statistics show the actual evidence of the enjoyment that people like Sullivan get from writing on blogs or social networking sites. Clark’s research on how much more enjoyment comes from writing with those using blogging or social networking sites is basically just the hard proof evidence that Sullivan lacks. Clarks source has a lot of the same key points as Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making us Stupid?”. The people who took Clark’s survey were mostly “technologically-savvy”. This includes having a mobile phone and being very aware of how to use the internet. Carr’s argument is that the internet and Google in general have made things too simple, and have changed the way he thinks, but in terms in writing Clark proves that having technology surrounding young people is not a bad thing because it increases the enjoyment factor. She makes the point that the content of the writing wasn’t researched so it cant be said how beneficial the writing is, but Carr’s argument that he loses focus too easily can’t really be attested to this data because young people are showing great interest which means they must be showing some focus. Clark’s data made me think of my topic in a way that I’ve never really thought about it before. I didn’t think of Facebook as really written communication, even though it’s kind of obvious. But I feel as though it is kind of just taken for granted because young people enjoy going on Facebook it couldn’t be that beneficial, but Clark’s data proves otherwise, as long as people know the time and place of correct writing. I will use Clark’s data to prove the point that Facebook isn’t necessarily all that bad. I think she would like Facebook seeing how she went through and found all this research to support the fact that the writing habits on Facebook have enabled people to use written communication more than ever before in a different way.