Are you a Member of the Digital Society? Вы в цифровом сообществе?

Проект по английскому языку

«Вы в цифровом сообществе?»

(Are you a member of the digital society?)

(исследовательский)

Contents

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………….….3

I. Digital ways of communication………………………………………………………….…...…5

1. Text messaging service ………………………………………………..…………….....6

2. A smiley…………………………………………………………………………...……7

3. I Seek You....………………………………………………………………….…….….8

4. Skype………………………………………………………….………………………..8

5. Social networking…………………………………………………………………….. 9

6. To twit or not  to twit?………………………………………………………………..10

II. Survey…………………………………………………………………………………….…..12

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….…….…...14

References ………………………………………………………………………………………15

Introduction

-HRU:)

-XLNT:-)

-WRUD

- :( B9:(  

-:@  TFTI

-SUITM

nadart123@mail.ru

id17453427

     Do you understand it? If you are a member of the digital society, you do. If not, let me explain. These seem to be written in an unknown language. The first are text messages using abbreviations and smile faces. The second is an e-mail address and the last is an identification number in “ВКонтакте”.

     Today, billions of people all over the planet interact using various technologies. This interaction has created a digital society that affords its members opportunities for education, employment, entertainment, and social interaction. As in any society, it is expected that digital citizens act in a certain way according to accepted norms, rules, and laws.

    Most of today's young people are entirely comfortable with technology.  It is not difficult for them to keep up with what is new and important in the world of digital technology.

    Thus, nowadays young people tend to communicate digitally. Instead of meeting, spending time together and talking they prefer to communicate   through text messages using SMS (Short Messaging Service),ICQ (I seek you),e-mail, skype and social networks. It helps them to keep in touch with their friends, classmates as well as with close and distant relatives. Moreover, they maintain contact with people from different parts of our country. As for adults, they have mastered digital technology and the new way of interaction. The number of adults involved in the digital society is rising.

  My work is devoted to studying teenagers’ and adults’ preferences of the ways of digital communication. So, the following hypotheses are to be investigated in my research:

Hypothesis 1:

   In spite of the fact that young people are well informed about all new ways of communication and can use them, they prefer social networking sites and Skype.

Hypothesis 2:

 Although adults express their opinion about  negative influence of the Internet and addiction to social networks, they tend to use the new ways of communication.

The best way to find it out is to make a survey. The respondents of the survey are the pupils of Gymnasium 14, my teachers, relatives and acquaintances. 

   My study consists of two parts. The first part is a theory and in the second part I’ll describe my survey and summarize the findings.

1. Digital ways of communication

The introduction of this work begins with a dialogue.

-HRU:)

-XLNT:-)

-WRUD

- :( B9:(  

-:@  TFTI

-SUITM

It means:

-How are you? 

-Excellent. 

-What are you doing?

-  Boss is watching. 

-Thank you for the invitation.

-See you in the morning.

    With the popularity and rise in real-time text-based communications, such as Facebook, Twitter, instant messaging, e-mail, Internet and online gaming services, chat rooms, discussion boards and mobile phone text messaging (SMS), came the emergence of a new language tailored to the immediacy and compactness of these new communication media.

    While it does seem incredible that there are thousands of chat and text message abbreviations,  different chat abbreviations are used by different groups of people when communicating online. Some of the following chat abbreviations may be familiar to us, while others may be foreign because they are used by a group of people with different online interests and hobbies than our own. For example, people playing online games are likely to use chat abbreviations that are different than those used by someone running a financial blog updating their Twitter status.

1.Text messaging service

    Text messaging is used for messages that are no longer than a few hundred characters. The term is usually applied to messaging that takes place between two or more mobile devices.   The main features of SMS are brief, momentary, the private nature of the content, the dependence on the mobile phone. It may have a limited set of keys and Latin script.

Here are some abbreviations used for messages:

2MOR          Tomorrow

       In Russian, there are no special abbreviations.  In my opinion, it is the main disadvantage of short messaging because you have to shorten some words, do not use punctuation, consequently, you “have to” make spelling mistakes and distort the language to express your  message. We should think that using a simplified version of communication - as much information in a short period of time - can lead to decline of literacy. Full stop, semicolon, dash,  comma and other punctuation marks are working parts for emoticons.

2.A smiley

     It is not surprising that a a smiley or emoticon is often used now.  A smiley face   is used in text message and online chat communications to convey an emotion.

    Smiley faces are used in the same way that a person's voice or facial expression changes when having a face-to-face conversation with someone. For example, if you were joking with someone and send a text message saying GAL (meaning get a life) the person receiving your message might think you are texting a rude comment.

     If you send the same message with a happy text smiley face : ) following the text abbreviation, the person would understand you were smiling when you sent the text message. In a face-to-face communication you would laugh or really smile to convey the “I’m joking around or kidding with you” emotion.  When you use smiley faces, you basically are showing emotions through characters in text messaging helps the receiver correctly interpret your intent and meaning.

   In my opinion, it is good to see your friend’s mood in one sign. It’s pleasant to get a smile, but when you see a sad face you understand something troubles your friend and you call or meet him or her.

    To create a smiley face you use standard keyboard characters and punctuation marks in sequences that look like facial expressions might. When viewing text smiley faces, they are all sideways. Here are some basics to get you started in understanding what the different characters used in smiley faces mean:

The close bracket represents a sideways smile  )

Add in the colon and you have sideways eyes   :

Put them together to make a smiley face  :)

Use the dash -  to add a nose   :-)

Change the colon to a semi-colon ; and you have a winking face ;)  with a nose  ;-)

 Put a zero 0 (halo) on top and now you have a winking, smiling angel 0;) with a nose 0;-)

Use the letter 8 in place of the colon for sunglasses 8-)

    Some chat and instant message programs will automatically translate text smiley faces into graphical emoticons.  For example, if you type out the characters to make a "happy face" followed by "sad face" followed by "cool sunglasses"  you would enter the following characters:

:)   :(   8-)

      Here are few examples of different smiley faces and their meanings. You can send any number of text faces or text images to help you convey an emotion when you text message or online text chat with people.

  To my mind, advantages of SMS overweight disadvantages. Firstly, you can use them anywhere: in the elevator, in transport, in the classroom and so on. Secondly, the service is cheaper than calls.(On the other hand it is not so cheap to communicate like that).Moreover, You can type in secret from parents, it helps get in touch in case the telephone subscriber is not available.

    Most surveys show that the most popular questions are “Where are you?” and “How are you?” and the answer is “OK”. I am sure that if asked my respondents about it they would give the same answers.

                                                            3. I seek you  

    ICQ ("I Seek You") is a program you can download that will let you know when friends and contacts are also online on the Internet. ICQ allows you to page them, chat with them, and initiate and participate in PC-to-PC calls, PC-to-phone and phone-to-phone calling cards calls. 

This service provides its users with ample opportunities, now you can make video calls.

4.Skype

        Is it possible to talk and to see you friend? Some years ago it wasn’t.  More and more people nowadays use Skype to keep in touch with friends and acquaintances.  Skype is an IP telephony service provider that offers free calling between subscribers and low-cost calling to people who don't use the service. In addition to standard telephone calls, Skype enables file transfers, texting, video chat and videoconferencing. On Skype you can actually see the person you are contacting through their attached video camera or, inbuilt computer camera. The service is available for desktop computers, notebook and tablet computers and other mobile devices, including mobile phones. A number of companies, including Skype, produce dedicated Skype phones.

     The service allows users to communicate with people by voice, video and instant messaging over the Internet. Phone calls may be placed to recipients on the traditional telephone networks. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free of charge, while calls to landline telephones and mobile phones are charged via a debit-based user account system.  

Skype has 663 million registered users. Registered users of Skype are identified by a unique Skype Name.  As for me, my Skype Name is ledyamerica.

    In my opinion, there are only advantages in With Skype, you can share a story, celebrate a birthday, learn a language, hold a meeting, do homework – just about anything you need to do together every day. You can use Skype on whatever works best for you - on your phone or computer or a TV with Skype on it.  

   If you pay a little, you can do more things, in more ways, with more people – like call phones, access WiFi or send texts. You can pay as you go or buy a subscription, whatever works for you. And in the world of business, this means you can bring your entire ecosystem of workers, partners and customers together to get things done. Try Skype out today and start adding your friends, family and colleagues. They won’t be hard to find; hundreds of millions of people are already using Skype to do all sorts of things together.

    People use Skype mainly for the high quality of voice it offers and especially because it offers free PC to PC service. People around the world use Skype for several things: for long-distance mettings with family, friends and loved ones; for remote activity monitoring; for business calls; for long-distance conferences; for cheap calls during travel etc.

 Skype is used in nearly all countries of the world, as it has been developed in view of delivering clear and consistent calls over the Internet. Today, there are many Skype user groups around the world. 

    As far as I am concerned, I made a lot of friends from different cities and towns. I have no opportunities to meet them. Talking over the telephone will cost money. With Skype I can chat, laugh, sing songs and have a good time.

5. Social networking

   It’s nearly impossible in this day and age not to know about social networking. It is not surprising that there is a great deal of talk about it. They say there are a lot of negative things concerning these sites. While, if you ask some whether they are registered in any social networking sites you can get a positive answer. Only the aged and kids are not   interested in it. For example, percentage of users under 18 in Facebook is 33 %.

   What is Social Networking? It’s a Web site that provides a virtual community for people to share their daily activities with family and friends, or to share their interest in a particular topic, or to increase their circle of acquaintances. There are dating sites, friendship sites, sites with a business purpose and hybrids that offer a combination of these. Facebook is the leading personal site. Globally, hundreds of millions of people have joined one or more social sites.
   Members create their own online "profile" with biographical data, pictures and any other information they choose to post. They communicate with each other by making their latest thoughts public in a blog-like format or via e-mail, instant messaging, voice or videoconferencing to selected members. The service lets members find and invite other members into their personal network (to "friend" them) as well as invite friends of friends). A photo sharing capability may also be provided.  

    Social networking sites such as Facebook  and MySpace  have become very popular among students as well as adults.  These sites allow users to communicate and share information.  These sites can be accessed anywhere there is an Internet connection including Smartphones.  All users need to be aware of the information that is shared on these sites to protect their identity as well as friends.

5.  To twit or not to twit?

   The members of the digital society will answer “ To twit!”. Twitter is a free microblog, or social messaging tool that lets you stay connected to people through brief text message updates -- up to 140 characters in length.( In my view, it’s the main disadvantage.)  Twitter is based on you answering the question what are you doing? You can post thoughts, observations and goings-on during the day in answer to that question. Your update can be posted on your Twitter profile page through SMS text messaging, the Twitter Web site, instant messaging,   e-mail or through other social applications and sites, such as Facebook.

    As with any new social medium, there is an entire vocabulary of slang words and abbreviations that users of the Twitter service adopt. Many of the new Twitter lingo describes the collection of people who use the service, while other abbreviations are used to describe specific functions and features of the service itself (like the Twitter abbreviation RT. Also, there are a number of terms which are basically Twitter shorthand: abbreviations that users include in their tweets. I think if you become a twitterer and can communicate with people from different countries, you should know Twitter   abbreviations.    Here are some of them:

Twitterer: Refers to a person who send tweets on the Twitter service

ab/abt: Short for "about."

b/c: Twitter shorthand for "because."

BFN: Short for "bye for now.

da: Often used on Twitter, this is a shortened version of "the."

F2F: An acronym used on Twitter that means "face to face."

HAND: An acronym often used on Twitter, it stands for “have a nice day.

idk: An abbreviated form of “I don’t know” frequently used on Twitter

TMB: Short for "Tweet me back.

IC: Often used on Twitter, it is the shorthand version for “I see.

PRT: Short for please retweet. This is a notation added to the end of a Tweet. PRT shows the user is asking others to retweet their post.

kk: Twitter shorthand for "kewl kewl" (cool cool)

II.Survey

   The main objective of the research was to investigate the preference of the ways of digital communication. This study adopted a quantitative approach to research. This was done using a survey method and relevant data was analyzed. This survey was conducted in Gumnasium №14 Orechovo-Zuevo, so the respondents were my school and classmates, teachers, relatives and aquantances.hey are of different age categories. There were 100 schoolchildren and students and 50 adults.

    No wonder that today’s pupils and high school  students are hardly newcomers when it comes to e-mail.  Most   students have had an e-mail address for about 4 years, with the average student getting an initial email address at the age of 13.

   When students choose a primary e-mail service, mail.ru is the clear favorite(74%). 50% of  my respondents  use yandex.ru as their primary e-mail address, 20% use Gmail.com, 13% rambler.com and only about 5%  use yahoo.com as their  address.  

     It’s clear that our pupils have adopted e-mail, and they are also among the earliest adopters of social networks. Are teenagers moving away from email and toward social networks as their preferred method of online communication?

These reports have speculated that social networking has taken over and that students are now using email primarily to sign up for social networking sites and receive e-mail alerts.

     My survey found that only about 16% of students use e-mail alerts to keep up to date on what’s happening on their social networks and about 62% of students originally got an e-mail address for social networking purposes. Approximately 58% got an e-mail address for registrations on different sites. The minority of students (12 %) got an email address for communicating with friends.

   We know that many young people are on social networks, but where exactly are they spending their time? 94% of the respondents use vk.com, 34 % use Facebook, 32% use my.mail.ru and only 17% use odnoclassniki.ru and twitter.com.

   Only one-fourth of students check  e-mail at least once per day, and 50% of those checking more than 3 times per week,25%  are not aware of the emails that hit their inbox and ckeck them ones a month or year.  It’s important to send the right message through the right channel, but besides email, what channels are students using most?

   Preferred means of communication for my schoolmates are social networking (76 %),Skype (70 %), ICQ (55 %) ,  text messaging (27%), e-mail (12%). About 77 % of students have access to the internet   on their mobile phones. We see that mobile device usage is increasing.

     Although many adults prefer using traditional means of communication, however the number of members of social networking sites is rising and among my acquaintances 60% use Odnoclassniki to keep in touch  with their friends and relatives, 35 % use Skype. Other ways of digital communication have low rates from 2% to 7%.

Conclusion

     In sum, there is evidence from the study that people nowadays choose new ways of communicating to others across the country: Social networks, e-mail, ICQ, SMS and Skype. We live in a new world – the word of digital communication. It’s fast, convenient, and often free and gives a lot of possibilities for users.   They have a great choice –SMS or ICQ, Skype or Social network.    

    Social Networking sites are being used widely by teenagers and adults. The survey shows that respondents are always “InContact”or in Odnoclassniki. Some sites are becoming the key to communication between teenagers of different countries. So, the hypothesis I formulated at the beginning of my research have been confirmed.

    In conclusion I would like to say that all people will soon be digitally connected. New generation leans a new language of communication and everyone understands each other. Some words or letters (up to 140 characters in length) and a smile are enough to express what you want and what you feel.

2MI                                             (Too much information)

10Q                                             (Thank you)

;-)  

                                            References

1. Англо-русский словарь синонимов.Тезаурус.-Москва:Ин.Язык,2001.

2. Большой англо-русский словарь.-Москва:Русский язык,1987.

3. Longman Dictionary of phrasal verbs.-Longman Group Ltd.,2007.

4. The Oxford Russian Dictionary Oxford-Moscow,1999.

6. http://slovari.yandex.ru/

7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network_service

8. http://social-networking-websites-review.toptenreviews.com/

9. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-icq.htm#did-you-know

10.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twiter

11.  http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/smiley.html

12. http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/survey.php

13. http://social-networking-websites-review.toptenreviews.com/facebook-review.html

14. http://www.bibliofond.ru/view.aspx?id=561400