Top 5 Ways the Internet Has Changed Writing

Blogging: Why even consider such a thing? Because you live in a digital world where adults spend over 20 hours per week online and teens spend 27 hours per week, twice as much as 10 years ago. Because today we create our own content online, comment on content, collect content, use social networks to read and watch content--all online. Today, "online" and "communication" have become synonyms. Did I mention texting?

In short, professionals are active online for hours every day. Indeed, the mere prospect that we may spend more than a few minutes unwired can cause genuine anxiety. And for good reason. As the Pew Research Center found, "Life on the job means life online." Today's emphasis on social constructivism is not just a fad; it is a necessity in today's workplace. The question is no longer to what extent social context plays a role in our writing. Digital technology and Web 2.0 ensure that social context plays a critical, inextricable role in virtually all aspects of our personal and professional lives. The question is how well we use digital technology to foster a productive social context for our professional communications. Here are the Top 5 writing changes that are quickly becoming standard expectations in the professional work place: The "New Literacy" Is Old In 2005, the New Media Consortium coined the phrase "new literacy" in its report entitled A Global Imperative. The NMC described new types of writing in the Digital Age. Over a decade later, the types of writing a professional must be efficient with has exploded, from writing on social media platforms, to texting, writing for visual presentations, and, yes, even blogging. Long paragraphs of word salads? As quaint today as poodle skirts and pet rocks. Less is more. Lists rule.  Put It Up Front Bill Gates coined the phrase "Business at the Speed of Thought" in a book of the same name. The title tells the professional everything he/she needs to know: the speed of business and business communication has increased exponentially along with the speed at which data is now created: 2.5 quintillion bytes per day. This means you must use words sparingly, of course. Most of all it means that in today's business writing you put conclusions, summaries and recommendations up front in whatever you write. Then come the methods and justifications. Think in Pictures As time pressure mounts and tolerance for words shortens, today's documents are using graphics to replace data and concepts once explained in words. Entire companies (and fortunes) have been built around tools that help the writer design graphics that give accurate info in a glance. A short list of some of these tools: InformationMapping, Canva, Vennage, Piktochart, Easel.ly, Infogr.am, Tableau, Visme. Enjoy. The World Sees What You Write--Forever Today, every word you write, every keystroke you make in the work place is permanently stored somewhere and will forever be associated with you. Additionally, you can expect what you write to be read by many more people than you originally sent it to, people you don't know and would probably never dream of. Today, we are all connected and have the ability to interact with virutally anyone, anywhere. Before publishing anything, ask yourself, "What would this sound like read out loud in a courtroom in front of a judge?" That should give you pause. Spelling and Grammar Count--More Than Ever Sophisticated spelling, grammar and style checkers are ubiqutious today and many are free. Some, like the heavily promoted Grammarly, can be installed on your web browser so that everything you write, from emails to Facebook posts, are checked automatically. Misspellings are no longer endearing; they're deadly.