Social network people - III- The internet language

Texting with acronyms and abbreviations... Yes or No?

That is the question!
Of course, NOT! -this is the opinion of many educators and parents , concerned about the risk of possible alteration of communication skills  .
Well, dear language lovers, do you really think your opposition counts?
The language- any language- is a vivid asset of humanity, so it will evolve in spite the will of the ”pure language” defenders.
Every time a new language trend appeares, there are people that criticize and reject that, blaming the others that adhere to the new ideas and naming ”barbarism” any new insertion into the world of communication. And this is one of the reasons of the distance between different generations, if you ask me.
Just think. All the kids use the new language. They need to communicate fast, because they are texting during their walk, during traveling by bus, during classes, during homework- and most of the time they have at least two persons at once engaged into this sort of conversations . They must solve everything fast!
And I have news for you: the corporatists found very fast the advantages of this system and they use it !
Now, my dear responsibe adults... let's make two lists about  the use of internet language :
1) threads :
-the alteration of "normal" communication skills (possible but not compulsory);
2) strenghts:
-facilitation of faster operational communication;
-improvement of eemotional expression of ideas in written communication (we LOOOVE emoticons, don't we?...);
-forcing your kids (your own kids or your pupils) to give up at internet language would push them either to use it anyway and to have a permanent conflict with you , or to be seen by their peers as "that weird kid"
-above all, if we start to use this language, maybe our kids will think that we want to be "cool", "trendy", or we just want to interfere into their secret life; maybe they will LOL when we will start asking them what a is the meaning of some abbreviation or maybe they will answer: "Mom, believe me, you DON'T want to know! LOL!" ; MAYBE! but trust me, they will have the feeling that you are living into the same era with them and MAYBE they will feel you closer and they will secretly admire you a little more.
Well, what do you think? Is it or is it not useful for you to start using this language? Today, tomorrow? Yes, No, Maybe?
I choosed randomly via internet a page that could help you, click this link .
TYVM 4 reading, BBS!

World Change Makers from WWW - I- Edutopia

I confess that my enthusiasm on the facile access to information via internet decreased quite fast.
Despite the positive evolution of my WWW search skills, too much time spent to select the really valuable information determined my cautious attitude regarding finding information online. 
The best part of my lack of enthusiasm is that I became faithful reader of few websites, blogs and social pages that offer me the satisfaction of finding quality information, especially concerning the educational issues of nowadays.
I can guess that  it is not a simple coincidence that the website which I reccomend here today is the online platform of  The George Lucas Educational Foundation.
I find there many resources, but also opinions on the most challenging issues of contemporary education. By reading the posts of Edutopia people, I understood something that shaked me deeply: all, i mean ALL the problems that we use to blame or to recall when we discuss the causes of the increased failures of education - from the individual level to the one of whole system- all these are UNIVERSAL. No system, no country, no school - private or state financed, from poor or rich communities- no one is totally exempt of these common issues.
I invite you to enter there and maybe you will understand why this is my first choice when I am asked to recommend educational on-line resources:
 Edutopia

New trends in education : I. Coder or user?

Seems that many educational systems tend to emphasize the importance of coding among the must-have-s of contemporary curricula.
Following this trend, parents, uncles, big brothers, teachers, IT fans and even innocent grand-parents start to learn for themselves and- of course- to push the youngsters to learn coding , sometimes before they pass their potty training! Everybody learns coding!
For me too, it was very interesting to code... in Basic of course... years ago. But ...
But... when finally I was able to have my own personal computer, I realized that I have no idea how to edit a Word file.
But... in fast-forward mode, the world of IT moved to 3.0, 4.0,  ... 6.0...
But...
I observed that too many youngsters (but not only) learn coding  but they are not aware of what a product of their work should look like, to be useful.
It is OK for me that people learn the code language, it is OK that more and more people know how these magic boxes work...
But...I'm  just asking:
Is it coding the best first choice when we target computer literacy?
What would be the role of professional coders , if everybody would start to conceive their own programs?
Is it pragmatic to push more people to code, instead teach them how to choose, to assess the characteristics of programs comparing to their own need, to use devices and software fully aware of the advantages and risks during this process?
Spreading ideas to create public opinion on educational trends for the future, without having the view of the big picture- I think this is a major issue when we intent to make major system changes...

Innocent lamb and the big bad wolf (R U Online?- spooky story for logged teens)

Once upon a time, in Somewhere Land, lived a cute little lamb who- as it happens to every child- headed cheerful and carefree to his teenage years.

And, like any teen, one day, our lamb -while joyful romp in the world of green pastures- he discovered a magnificent place that had hundreds or even thousands of gates. And behind every gate opened new worlds full of images, photos, information and -above all- beings of all sorts, willing to talk and make friends immediately with our lamb.
Little lamb did not stay too long on his thoughts and, willing to be able to get in touch with all these new friends, he logged-in. (Well, to succeed in that he had to lie a little, such as at the question about the age he actually had, but what matters such a small lie, if it helps you get into the miraculous world?)
Anxious to get online, little lamb diligently completed all required data and has posted the sharpest of his photos, because, isn't that, our little innocent lamb was still a good kid, despite what I wrote above in brackets!
Our Lamb has accepted all friend requests and, the more friends he got, the more he enjoyed it, because he thought that this is about to be cool. 
Every teen wants to be cool.
He spent hours talking to his new friends, giving "likes", commenting, typing LOL's, even to the posts whose meaning was not able to find, but friends are friends and then- it's online!
The greatest joy he had especially when mingling with Lamb2, his best friend, who tought him most things about how to communicate online and show him a great friendship, although they were not seen ever!

I do not want to bore you, so I'll shorten the story. 

Lamb2 proved to be a big bad wolf which was part of a network of big bad wolves. Together with them, the big bad wolf plotted some evil things, such as to sneak into the lamb's house to steal his laptop (a black day for poor lamb who cried, especially because he could not contact his friend Lamb2). Another day, big bad wolf called the lamb to meet. Our lamb -beating heart- raced with excitement and joy to the assigned place, but -strange coincidence- on the way he met some big bad wolves who stole his smartphone and did some other damages, from which our lamb was hospitalized several months and it was very difficult to recover. But most of all he felt hurt that his friend, Lamb 2, disappeared without a trace, although the lamb was looking for him online for days and nights.
Many years later, our lamb, who became young ram, reached his personal desires and managed to finish college with good grades and enrolled in a competitive hiring offer to a reputable firm. Although it was the best interview, he was not hired, as a ram- member of the recruitment comission, internet fan - made some online search and found evidence that the lamb had dubious friends in his youth, such as the big bad wolf.

I trust in you that you will extract the conclusion of this story by yourself.
 But let me pestering you a little.
Each of us knows a lot, but do not know it all.
Not all know that in some coded language, snow diamonds and stars may be banned substances.
Not all know that the "forbidden love" is not necessarily a "Romeo and Juliet"drama situation.
We give ourselves importance by using what we've read or heard from others, without knowing the exact meaning of phrases. That can bring us at least embarrassing moments, if not dangerous situation! Who wants to come to this?
Not all know that every action that we do online risks can not be permanently deleted, whatever we try. If we are true friends and honest people, we take care not to put any others in danger, in the virtual world.
So, little lamb, R U online?
You are about to make a click?
R U sure about that???
***
I published for the first time this story here:
Media Voices 4 Special Teens

Social network people: II. The Pets Lovers

"Ohhh, sooo cuuute! Look at that fur! What a pretty eyes! Can't stop smiling! So LOVELY! OMG It acts as smart as humans! "
LIKE! LIKE! LIKE! Just SHARE, you, heartless human! 



Yes, I am guilty too...
I don't have pets, but all my childhood I was friend with different furry beings, so I am a big fan of these posts.

Indeed, they are cute and sometimes they give you the only reasons to smile in some cloudy days of your life, wehter they are real or just virtual... So, IN MY OPINION HERE  there is no sin to LIKE, LIKE LIKE!

OK, but the remarks about the similarity between human behavior and theirs?... Are they really humanized? Or rather we, humans, we encounter sometimes other people that are  too alienated and act as ... not too humans... ? And the contrast that appeares gives more credits to the human traits of our beloved pets?

I hope not.

Social network people: I. Imaginary friends

First, you add one, thinking that maybe you know him or her ... then you add a handful of unknown people, because they seem interesting or funny... Then few dosens, few hundreds and maybe thousands... and you have that amazing, sweet, deezy feeling that finally, after many clicks, you are -at last! PO-PU-LAR!!! As popular as the most beloved artists of the world, or as the masters of sports!
Who knows if you will meet them ? Maybe you are near them in the bus, or in the elevator, or maybe they live across the street... Never mind, it is OK, eeeverybody does it! and the number of followers is very important - at least in the virtual world you have sooo many friends!
If a kid creates an imaginary friend and tries to convince you that he/she exists, you will have a bad feeling concerning the kid's mental health... but that friend disappears and you are reliefed.
But what about the virtual friends? How much time they will be parts of your life? Will they dissapear? How much time is too much when it is about this sort of friends? How many of them are too many? If you don't know them in person, are they more real than kid's imaginary friend?
Reality check... postponed!

Once upon a time...

...about 14 years ago I started by creating first ID and by sending first emails... Had no idea about how internet works... not much added since then...
Then curiosity made me to try first searches...
Then I curiosity, communication needs, trends and friends pushed me to social networks...
 And the rest is history...
Now I only leave home if I am sure that I have at least one device connected and that I have the means to obtain wifi psswrd in the place where I am heading to...
Yeap... Sad, spooky stories about terrible days without connection I have... I am sure that I'm not the only one...
How did I succeed to survive BEFORE?
Can't remember...