Response to Amy:

I understand that the quality and use of lexical language is deteriorating on the Internet, and this may in fact affect communication skills. However, one can argue this point from classical Marxist perspective.

The language used in letter writing, or used for formal communication is ‘elite’, forced upon people by few who dictate its grammar and rules, and people without a choice have been made to conform to it.

The Internet, on the other hand is the perfect example of how much egalitarian and democratic we can actually get. Everyone seems to contribute in some ways, people can express themselves in ways they feel comfortable, and they do not have to follow the ‘social structure’ of the offline world for communication.

In addition, there is always a danger of spill over effects. That is, when do we question the effects of Internet communication, how do we come to the terms that language is a tool for expression, and no single person has authority over it, so who corrects whom, and why?

There is faint line here, which extrapolates to the arguments of digital divide, access and spill over effects of online structure over offline structure and vice versa.

What do you bloggers think?

Abhiyan