The research question presented within this capstone project is as follows, are the changes in digital culture diminishing language as we know it, and how does this shift in the paradigm affect literacy?
Through research, we'll get a better understanding of each of the chosen words. We'll begin to develop a greater understanding of the way that each word is interconnected. The meanings of each of these keywords will demonstrate the connection they share, both to each other and the changing format of communication in a digitally immersed society.
Gaining an understanding of these connections, and what those connections may entail for the future, is just as equally important as understanding the connections themselves. Digital culture is something that nearly every person participates in, whether they are aware of it or not.
Technology is changing and shaping communication, language, and, therefore, literacy.What we do with this new technology, how we share it, and how we move forward will, in the end, shape the fate of both language and literacy.
It is apparent that the answer to the original question is no, this digital new space, the rapid changes in digital culture, are NOT diminishing language or literacy. By defining and connecting these words, it's clear that these changes, though they often seem silly or appear a bit rough, are a purer form of conveying a complex meaning or feeling.
Literature, and indeed language itself, is not at all 'representational' or 'expressive' of something outside itself.
Since it does not refer to anything in the manner of a pipeline, it refers to, or means, nothing.
-Ong