To love in
times of the Internet
R we in luv
with our txt msgs??
By CLAC - 2014
Years
ago one could have said that the ultimate objective in life for human beings
was to find an endless and lasting love. Boys and girls would pursue to find
their significant ones to keep and to share forever, to pass on their ideas, feelings
and history; sadly, those ideas are no more. Nowadays, “never-ending love” survives
one or two months if lucky. And relationships as such are at distance and in
written form; young people communicate and transmit their feelings, thoughts
and beliefs through images or selfies and weird text messages which sometimes are
as long as ten LETTERS!!! Is technology adding or taking away desire which is a
vital element of romance? It has been said a lot about love through centuries;
how to find it, cherish it and maintain it forever and ever. Not so long ago, people would wait by their
home phones for a call, nowadays they keep watching over the “last seen at” on
WhatsApp, or wait for that “ping” from their loved ones or at least an emoji to
indicate that their message was received.
Once
you get a phone, the object of your affection is only a second away from
communication, but the question there is does that make romance bloom or wither
away like roses that are so representative of love around the world.
“I
think it takes away and gives something more,” says author Milan Vohra, India’s
first M&B writer. “Longing can be built through connectivity because a text
message or a WhatsApp message can help build up the romance, until the couple
meets. And if one of them is busy, they can simply communicate that and keep
the chemistry going by, say putting up a link to a song or an indirect status
message that the other knows is meant for him or her.”
Even
physical contact has a new nature with the so-called sexting; couples believe
it is okay to share intimate pictures of themselves through the cell phone. And
once they are leaked to the public they cannot believe it!
I
wonder what my grandma would have said if she were alive about this situation.
Would she have stayed with grandpa for so long? Would she have sent selfies and
updated her FB account? Or would she have accepted to even use a cell phone?
Every day, everywhere, at all times people are checking whether they
have received a WhatsApp, a Selfie, a Poke, or a Tweet. It´s insane! One can
notice somebody has received a txt msg or call because they even flinch and
their body language changes. They are constantly aware of the phone and its
notifications. If they are having a conversation of some kind and they get a
cell notification, they phub (ignore
a person or one's surroundings in a social situation by busying oneself with a
phone or other mobile device) their interlocutor and stop paying attention to
the conversation.
E-mail used to be very popular at the beginning; however, nowadays it is
mainly used to communicate in formal contexts like workplaces and offices; the
new generation doesn´t like to write much and when they do, they will use
shortcuts and abbreviations which mean nothing for older people! Things like…
“RUOK?
Want 2 go 2 cinema L8R? BTW Z´s coming. TMB B4 U leave home?”. = 49 letters
Translation:
Are
you Okay? Do you want to go to the cinema later? By the way, Z is coming. Text
me back before you leave home. = 89 letters
Txt msg
|
Meaning
|
C U L8R M8
|
See you later mate
|
B4
|
Before
|
AFAIK
|
As far as I know
|
W8 4 ME, I´M L8, SOZ
|
Wait for me, I’m late, sorry
|
KIT
|
Keep in touch
|
RUOK?
|
Are you okay?
|
LUWAMH
|
Love you with all my heart
|
HAND
|
Have a nice day
|
Zzzzzzzzz
|
Boring!
|
KOTL
|
Kiss on the lips
|
TMB
|
Text me back
|
It is very
common, nowadays, to use text messaging as a form of communication in many
different situations: to ask somebody out on a first date, to finish a
relationship, to wish a friend a happy birthday, to say sorry to a friend for a
mistake you made, to ask for advice, for a teacher to tell you the homework,
for a teacher to give you your grades or arrange a meeting, for schools to keep
in touch with parents, to arrange a doctor´s appointment, to renew books at the
library, to book videos at the video store, and so on…
Emoticons and emojis are another way to send text
messages. Emoticons are little pictures made out of punctuation marks. Here are
some examples:
- :-) = happy face :-(
= sad face
- ;-D = winking grin @--^---
= a rose
Emojis are forms of animated emoticons for smart
phones:
💓👉👀👄😘💏🙉🙊
These things have also evolved, they are now animated
and colorful with sound and music which drive older people crazy!
So
just to check if you are “in onda” try and decipher this txt msg:
-CUL8R, LtsGt2gthr, 4EVRYRS –
Till next time! ;)
Well, I am agree with whole text because is definitely true, now days the relationship is only focus what the people say, they are focus to be ok even when there is no love. Technology is not taken that desire of romance, because it depends on us, now days there is no more romantics things like, given roses, giving letters, hanging out in the parks and having conversation with that person, Today the relation is only watching if they are online, if the put a emoji on the text and things like that, so in my opinion it is so different these days than the past, and the technology it consumes us but that is our fault.
ReplyDeleteI like writing because I transmit what I feel, but I put my effort to not depend all in the technology. and the most common when I write something really interesting is when I meet new people.
It is true Samuel Gonzalez, I agree with you about that we are going to decide how to run our relationship. However nowadays the majority of men forgot how to be romantic and they only think that love is ask as rapidly as possible all whastApp or Facebook messages or posting photos with them into it.
DeleteAnd I have a question for you... Are you a romantic boy? Do you give roses yet?
Well, it´s really sad to learn that we´re loosing romance :(
DeleteI hope one day your generation realizes how important it is to make human contact.
you are right Samuel. if you are from one side of your device's screen, you cannot know the people´s reaction, or if he/she is actually feeling the same you wanted to transmit, everyone has a different comprehension of what you read, Do I mean?
DeleteYes Miss, I think you are right, we're loosing romance and I think the most important, human contact.
DeleteBecause we could say that we are permiting that technology control us, we are codependent of technology, we feel that we are nothing if we do not have a lap, a cell phone and all the time we depend on it. its more important to be involved in some social network, waiting that the people show us their feelings through long texts, and do not make us the famous "seen" or thinks like that, nowadays is more important that things that to be face to face with a real person and enjoy a good conversation with our friends or family.
Sergio that is the problem nowaday, this generation don't care to know the people's reaction when you are talking to them, it most importan for them to put some "emojis" when they send a text to someone else to demostrate their feelings, or they send things that you do not know if they are sincere or do not.
DeleteWell, it was a very thoughtful text. In my case, I am one of those who support that, the changes of this actual society are neither new trends nor evolution, as many young people think of. So, in my case, I argue that it is better something like, a corrupted society, especially putting together love and internet, what is that aberration?.
ReplyDeleteI believe that all things are getting corrupted by this new generation, because they think that it is normal just because everybody do it, but actually, people who doesn't follow those trends (Called "unfashionable people"), I mean, people who still write a romantic letter in a piece of paper and send it to others who aren't corrupted yet, they are likely to get a pure romance contact at least if they don't fall in love at the end.
Also, I agree with that what is mentioned above about the risks of sexting, the misuse of texting, etc, I support that all of this is true, because the love feelings are getting confused and even replaced with other weird things like, overexploited emojis and those lazy-words pretending be romantic and affective, when they are being simply empty words without any signal of trying to make an acceptable quality content at least. Or those sexual foolish challenges that just make even more troubles... I
Well, it was a very thoughtful text. In my case, I am one of those who support that, the changes of this actual society are neither new trends nor evolution, as many young people think of. So, in my case, I argue that it is better something like, a corrupted society, especially putting together love and internet, what is that aberration?.
I believe that all things are getting corrupted by this new generation, because they think that it is normal just because everybody do it, but actually, people who doesn't follow those trends (Called "unfashionable people"), I mean, people who still write a romantic letter in a piece of paper and send it to others who aren't corrupted yet, they are likely to get a pure romance contact at least if they don't fall in love at the end.
Also, I agree with that what is mentioned above about the risks of sexting, the misuse of texting, etc, I support that all of this is true, because the love feelings are getting confused and even replaced with other weird things like, overexploited emojis and those lazy-words pretending be romantic and affective, when they are being simply empty words without any signal of trying to make an acceptable quality content at least. Or those sexual foolish challenges that just make even more troubles... I
So I wonder, where is love represented if not eford, if not inspiration, if any sacrifice... and I only will conclude with the next argument: All of that is OK but, what's the point of relating internet with love o another human feelings? to corrupt it?
Rafael, you repeated the text twice.
Deleteinteresting reflection, so are you against the relationships using internet?
I believe that the article is right about how love has changed over time, perhaps the relationships aren't that serious as years before. Of course, technology has influenced this for positive and negative reasons; however, it is making us closer to those that are distant and moving us away of those that are close.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that some people overuse technology when they interact with their phone rather than interacting with a human being (this is called Phubbing). Also, I regard that communication has changed positively because of the speed of sending a message and the easy and cheap way to do it. Nevertheless, it is making us lazier while writing.
In my case, I like writing but I don't do it very often. The most common occasions when I do it are such as for pleasure, for school or to communicate through messages. I try to avoid this shortcuts or abbreviations because I think they are useless. So, if you ask me I am not "in onda" but I think it says "See you later", "Let's go together", "Forever yours", is it correct?
Ambar, I loved the phrase "it is making us closer to those that are distant and moving us away of those that are close." you expressed the situation just right. I strongly agree with you at that.
DeleteAlmost, "see you later, let's GET together, forever yours"
I agree with you Miss, relationships before technology were so much better than nowadays, people used to talk to one another, if you wanted to see or talk to someone, yo went to his/her house, now you just send a text. I think that we are forgetting about the little details that were seen really often between couples.
ReplyDeleteI don't really like when people write wrong while texting, that they abbreviate or cut the words or phrases just because is "trendy" or for lazziness. Even though we're just texting and it's something informal we should write well or we will get used to write like that all the time, we will forget how to write certain words.
I would like to write but I don't have the talent to express what I feel or think in a beautiful or poetic way.
Oh, and it's:
DeleteSee you later
Let's get together?
Forever yours
I believe that is the sad part Lorena, people this generation don´t see it that way. They see this kind of relationship normally. Like it is supposed to be that way, they are missing out on human touch.
DeleteYes, you got the message right.
Hello, Miss. Antonio.
ReplyDeleteI support what this reading says, because it is true that nowadays things have changed. I remember that when I was a child, I used to see situations in which people who were in love used to send letters, gifts, give serenades, write poems for the love of their lives, and so on. I also remember that people used to interact more than they currently do, there used to be parties, get togethers and picnics. people used to hang out with their friends, but as always... things have been evolving even for making friends or dating someone. In my personal opinion that is not OK. Interaction is important in daily life, we cannot be the whole day checking our social media or taking selfies, life is more than that, and what technology has created is just a way of wasting important time and making us lazier and ignorant, because we misuse technology. I believe that another social and educational problem is the way that adolescents write when texting a friend or even in formal situations. definitely life have changed for all of us. there must be a solution for this social problems.
We should not let technology and new cultural influences make a change in ourselves, let's not forget about writting without technology and interact more than what we do.
DeleteThe words are See you later, let's get together, and forever yours.
Yes, you are right, the past used to be more romantic. I am not saying that it is wrong nowadays but different! I wish this new generation pay more attention to details and human contact. You got the message right.
DeleteIt is true that lately the new ways of thinking of people have greatly influenced the way of loving and expressing, if we compare the time of duration of the old couples with the modern relationships there is a very remarkable change and this clearly is due to the virtual communication that distances the romance and the correct expression of the feelings through the writing. From my point of view, applications are the main sponsors that expose the user to danger, either by the information they share publicly or by the exchange of personal data in private messages. Another of the many disadvantages of social applications is that people are adapting to an informal way of writing, now they communicate with too many abbreviations and terms that are deforming the original language, in addition this type of technologies cause distraction and distancing from the real world. Personally, I hate to use these abbreviations because I think they are like codes that have been created by fashion or laziness, and the worst is that they are commonly used by young people (students) who are supposed to have a higher degree of education. I think that students should be an example in knowing how to correctly use vocabulary and punctuation marks in the writing of a message.
ReplyDeleteThen, of course that I like writing because I can do it anywhere. All I need is my laptop, my cell phone or a pen and paper. This means I can work from home, or on the road, or from just about anywhere. The most common occasions in that I write about something are when I have to create paragraphs in my English class (writing) this is the main purpose of the class and always my partners and I do activities to practice this skill. Fortunately I like to write is one of my favorite hobbies, I practice it in my free time.
Excellent hobbie. I´m not saying it is wrong, I also believe that language has to evolve and change somehow, however, it is sad that because of technology we are loosing some human contact. Don´t you think?
DeleteI totally agree with the content of this text.First of all that relationship before technology were much better that nowadays because the modern relationships are based on status , photos and post of Facebook and how much time our boyfriend or girlfriend spends in whatsApp and if all the time that they are on line they are talking with us or with another person, these things make us be jealous and it bring us problems.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand we have terrible problems of writing because of modern technology , nowadays we are really lazy to write and we prefer abbreviate words to transmit our ideas , this is really bad for example in Mexico we use it however when some people try to write a complete word they sometimes do not remember the correct way to write it.
I forgot decipher something... CUL8R, LtsGt2gthr, 4EVRYRS
DeleteIs it see you later ,lets get together , forever yours?
You got the message right, the real problem is problably that this generation is writing terrible our own language.
DeleteIt has the mouth fall of reason, nowadays it is more important being in a reñationship just because they want to show their love to their friends on social medias. Sadly also, the love does not last forever. But the only thing we can do is fit on our new generation...
ReplyDeleteYou are probably right.
DeleteAfter redibng this article, I agree of the information that in there. I think that nowadays people are not get along in real life as they used to do, now people just use smartphones to keep in touch but they do not go out in the real time, they just use the technology (which is very useful) although people do not how to use it correctly. The author mention to his grandma, I think the same, she does not understand how to use the cellphone to keep in a relationship. Also the author says that people are changing the way they write in an informal message, nowadays how they sort out everything by cellphones. Peplo should fall in love as in old times, sending letters and roses, I do not agree with the fact to use technology as a tool for love.
ReplyDeleteunfortunately, that it is how it is in life now.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI am really agree with the article, nowadays people prefer a lovely text message with emoticons, or some people get angry if you don't post any selfie with their couple, that is boring, i remember that my father told me his story love with my mom and i really like it because my dad prefer always be face to face with my mom, they prefer a rose or something cheap, but these days boys and girls want a cute message or an expensive present, and if you don't do that they said "Oh you don't love me" anyways, other thing that i really don't like it are those abbreviations, i can not understand the whole message, i prefer read the complete words, and some people think that those abbreviations are "cool" but no! It is more cool write a text that we can understand better.
ReplyDeleteI agree a lot with you, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and others social networkings are making relationships going wrong, before we used to go out and talk face to face with our loved ones, now couples prefer to chat the whole day instead of going out.
ReplyDeleteEven when having a real date they waste their time checking their phones and fighting because their phones do not stop ringing.
In my opinion long-distance relationships are something really hard to believe in, I have seen a lot of pics on Facebook which show a couple on an airport and the tittle is always "GOALS". I have unfriended a lot of people who share this kind of material because it really annoys me, they cannot see that kind of pics just show us a fake reality, an egotistical and superficial background (expensive cars, expensive gifts, expensive places, etc).
Finally I think cellphones are just making relationships worse, however I would like to believe there is someone who I can travel far away in a ship through the ocean without cellphones ringing.
Hi Miss. In my opinion this article was a little bit sad to me because it's all right. Nowadays is imposible to keep a relationship without include the social media. I believe that never-ending relationships are imposible in the real World. I think it was better in the past, when my grandma met my grandpa they did't use any social media to keep their relationship save. I am against with this situacion. I don't like when someone is not paying attention to me because its cellphone. I Really hate that. Also the relationship today are so fake! Boys and girls are always fighting because of this situations. We have more options in our social medias so we don't care about our relationships anymore! Nowadays it doesn't matter if your boyfriend or girlfriend broke with you, you can choose one of your FB friends and meet her/him. You are not going to be just with one person because you have a thousands of options in your Fb or Instagram account right?.
ReplyDeleteWell in my case I don't write using abbreviations, I don't like to do that. "CUL8R" "HBD" I hate that, I like to write every Word correctly even in Spanish! And I don't like to talk with people who use that. Anyway I would like to be in a relationship like before.
Certainly it has left aside the customs in which you could commonly send letters to tell someone that you were in love. Technology has been a tool and a deadly weapon (depending on how we handle it) because people do not cope others because they are using mobile devices.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, as far as writing is concerned, in order to save space and time, it has been chosen to abbreviate writing. However, my grandmother would not understand that if I wanted to express something to her.
Technology has been the cause and everything depends on the level to which we want to carry.
I love writing when I want to give a gift to my mom! i always write phrases that illustrate my perception about the life, when I am inspired. obviously is about God´s creation.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy writing, because it is a way to express what I am thinking or feeling, I can take my time to write what I want and think if it is right or wrong. I write for many purposes but the most common is in school when I take notes in classes, but I also write poems and songs.
ReplyDeleteI like this information because it describe our reality,
ReplyDeleteMany relationship have had problems because the use of facebook ,whatsapp or any kind of social network.
Most people think that if have a boyfriend or girlfriend you have to put in your facebook profile "in a relationship" to be respectful with your couple but I think that it doesn't matter.
Even nowadays we can see some teenagers in a relationship and they are just 12 or 13 years old,and I dont agree wiht this situation,and also I Believe that it happens because the influence of technology.It sad but true
In my opinion i would like to visit my friends in their houses or they come to my house. But intead of that we just try to be ¨social¨ by a screen, but never will be the same. So i just goninf to say that in the past, relationships were better por most of people, i can not to say that everybody do the same but not. I know that older people who do not know about technology, keep relationships as good as yesterday
ReplyDeleteI think relationships before technology were better than they are now because before people used to send emails, letters, serenades, people used to make the effort to interact with others, the little details that people used to do are getting lose. Nowadays everything is via internet, there is not interaction between people because they can do everything via internet and I think this is an disdvantage because relationship are more important thank just text messages or send greets.
ReplyDeleteI don't like when people use shortcut and abbreviation because this make us lazier and we seem ourselves very informal. In my case, I do not like to use this kind of shortcuts because I don't see it correct.
I think I'm not in onda but I think the abbreviation says "see you later, let's get together for every years".
I agree with you miss, because it is true that nowadays the relationships have changed, I used to read the letters that my father used to send to my mom, and everything was so different, for example they used to go to the park and talk for hours, then the next day my mom received another later and that was basically the relationship between them, now people just send "whats" or "snaps" to demonstrate the love for the other person, I know this is a new era, and people is so connected with technology but that is changing all the society and taking them to another ending, I don't use a lot the social media but I can't say that it is bad, of course it helps, but we need to know how to use it.
ReplyDeleteI like writing, but not with abbreviations, I like to express what I feel and it is better for me to write a letter than a message on whatsapp or Facebook.
I think that abbreviations mean: "see you later" "let's get together" and "forever yours"
that's my point of view.
If my grandmother were alive, I would scream for courage because she was very strict and she was always dedicated to the home. Nowadays there are many mothers who neglect their children to be on social networks (it is not my case). There are even couples in trouble due to this situation, the misuse of technology, to spend more time on their mobiles. I think it has become a cybernetic vice; And we get carried away by marketing. As you say Miss we do not talk to anyone, we look like zombies with our faces on our phones, we pass in front of other people without even giving them a greeting, we do not raise our faces when crossing a street.
ReplyDeleteI don´t like abbreviations, most of time I don´t understand them.I think this makes people lazy due to we don´t write correctly and therefore we don´t know to read.
Thank you all for your comments, they are interesting since most of you agree that relationships are changing and technology is not always good.
ReplyDeleteI hope awareness makes you use technology less to communicate (REALLY COMMUNICATE) with others.
Regards