Error or Strength?

A study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project has indicated that teens are writing more than ever and that much of this writing is done in digital spaces. However, digitalk, the informal language used, often breaks from Standard English, and adults are concerned about the effects of digitalk on literacy skills in general. This chapter reports research that focuses on what language teens use in their digitalk and why they make the choices they do. With analysis of digital writing from 81 adolescents, researchers identified 18 conventions of digitalk. In a second phase of research, teens were surveyed and interviewed about their linguistic choices. Findings indicate that adolescents attend to audience, and they consider personal voice in their digital writing. Teens develop these competencies in a community of writers – outside of school.

Comparación de los hábitos y perfil del lector digital entre Estados Unidos y España

La irrupción de los libros electrónicos (soporte y contenido) está provocando cambios en los hábitos de la lectura y en los factores asociados a ella. Aunque es indudable la importancia de este fenómeno aún son pocos los trabajos que tratan de sistematizar los cambios que se han producido, y la falta de homogeneidad en los parámetros dificulta en muchas ocasiones la elaboración de estudios diacrónicos en un mismo contexto o sincrónicos en entornos geográficos distintos. A pesar de ello, la riqueza de datos que ofrecen algunos informes recientes permite extraer información y comparar el fenómeno de los hábitos y perfiles de los lectores digitales, como es el caso del Pew Research Center & American Life Project para el contexto estadounidense y Hábitos de compra y Lectura de libros en España para el español lo que permite mostrar cómo a pesar de que los contextos sociales y culturales son diferentes, existe una coincidencia en la evolución de la lectura digital.

Error or Strength?

A study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project has indicated that teens are writing more than ever and that much of this writing is done in digital spaces. However, digitalk, the informal language used, often breaks from Standard English, and adults are concerned about the effects of digitalk on literacy skills in general. This chapter reports research that focuses on what language teens use in their digitalk and why they make the choices they do. With analysis of digital writing from 81 adolescents, researchers identified 18 conventions of digitalk. In a second phase of research, teens were surveyed and interviewed about their linguistic choices. Findings indicate that adolescents attend to audience, and they consider personal voice in their digital writing. Teens develop these competencies in a community of writers – outside of school.

A Biography of the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project

The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project is a “fact tank” of primary research that has documented three revolutions in digital technology in the United States since 2000. First, the project has charted the rise of the Internet and broadband connections in the U.S. Second, it has explored the rise of mobile connectivity on mobile phones and laptops. Third, it has charted the growth of social media, especially social networking websites. At the same time, the project has paid particular attention to probing the impact of digital technology on six domains of the social world: 1) the impact on families, 2) communities, 3) healthcare, 4) education, both formal and informal, 5) politics and civic life, and 6) workplaces. All of the reports of the project and the survey data it has collected are available for free from its website at pewinternet.org.