Our life comes to a full-stop without communication. Being a social animal we need to be in touch with our community. Whenever we need help or express our ideas to others, we communicate. Our curiosities as well as the need for co-existence propel us towards sharing our words with people. Even animals make noises and gestures to signify their feelings or describe a situation. Being human, we have several coherent ways to communicate. Traditionally we have either expressed ourselves orally or in writing but with advancement in technology we have become familiar with “Electronic discourse” or the “Computer mediated communication” in technical terms. Electronic discourse has both similarities and differences with the spoken or written language. It is originated from the traditional communication system only, but provides a platform where we can exploit both the benefits of written as well as spoken language.
Electronic discourse is similar to written language in many ways. We type in our emails, text messages and social networking updates which is electronic form of writing. When in forums or discussion rooms, we type in our responses alike formal writing. In the same way, when we post things in our blogs or websites, we can edit our work, select from a large vocabulary and consult different materials before finally publishing them, which is quite similar to writing. These points can also be used to contrast the electronic discourse from spoken language.
On the other hand, electronic discourse can be dynamic like instant messages where we can quickly respond to any queries or clarification. Also, most of the instant messages are volatile, whole chat is lost when we close the application unlike a written text. We can use a single click to signify something just like clicking “Like” button in Facebook. The recent functions like “Video Chat” are also totally different from written language. And as above, these points can be used to signify the resemblance of electronic discourse to spoken language.
Therefore, electronic discourse possesses both the qualities of spoken as well as written language and thus has collapsed the gap between them. And so, it has both similarities and differences when we analyze from any one perspective. But one of its greatest drawbacks is that unlike natural ways of communication, it allows anonymity to a large extent and hence has given rise to criminal activities over the electronic media.
Electronic discourse is similar to written language in many ways. We type in our emails, text messages and social networking updates which is electronic form of writing. When in forums or discussion rooms, we type in our responses alike formal writing. In the same way, when we post things in our blogs or websites, we can edit our work, select from a large vocabulary and consult different materials before finally publishing them, which is quite similar to writing. These points can also be used to contrast the electronic discourse from spoken language.
On the other hand, electronic discourse can be dynamic like instant messages where we can quickly respond to any queries or clarification. Also, most of the instant messages are volatile, whole chat is lost when we close the application unlike a written text. We can use a single click to signify something just like clicking “Like” button in Facebook. The recent functions like “Video Chat” are also totally different from written language. And as above, these points can be used to signify the resemblance of electronic discourse to spoken language.
Therefore, electronic discourse possesses both the qualities of spoken as well as written language and thus has collapsed the gap between them. And so, it has both similarities and differences when we analyze from any one perspective. But one of its greatest drawbacks is that unlike natural ways of communication, it allows anonymity to a large extent and hence has given rise to criminal activities over the electronic media.
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