Professor Daniel Perrin: Internet Has Changed Our Writing Methods
Today, people rather write than talk with each other, even in close relationships. Communication is dominated by different forms of social media, in which communication is mainly done by writing, says visiting lecturer Professor Daniel Perrin.
Professor Daniel Perrin from the ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences gave a presentation on his research involving today’s professional writing methods. The presentation was held at the autumn symposium of the Finnish Association of Applied Linguistics (AFinLA) on 10 November 2017.
Professional writing has changed greatly during the last few decades. Perrin spoke about the topic using the term digital literacy shift. He stated that writing has shifted from focused writing into writing by-the-way.
– Before, the writing process of a journalist was more isolated and long-term, without many outside factors being able to affect the process. Today, however, journalists are in contact with their audience during the writing process, and texts are written dynamically while the journalists are in contact with the outside world, explained Perrin.
According to Perrin, the shift in digital literacy is four-phased and it began in the 1990s. At that time, people started writing texts in the internet, but still by the method of focused writing.
– Focused writing was affected by internet browsing during the 2000s. This lead to writing by-the-way becoming more common during the 2010s when journalism and social media communities became more closely related.
Perrin predicted that community and brand management dominate journalism in the 2020s, and that the methods of focused writing and writing by-the-way will be deeply intertwined at that time. As with many other fields, journalism is also strongly connected to the advances of technology and social media, and will continue to be so in the future.
The Finnish Association of Applied Linguistics (AFinLA) held their annual autumn symposium on 10-11 November at the University of Turku. Over 150 applied linguistics experts attended the symposium, to discuss the theme of building new literacies. Professor Daniel Perrin was one of the main speakers invited to the symposium, with the topic of literacy in professional life.
Jenni Maja