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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
Loved this book! So entertaining and I learned so much.
Such linguistic fun! Much wow!
As an Old(ish) Internet Person, this survey of how language has evolved as the world came online was fascinating from start to finish.
Finished it almost a month ago, so I find myself without many details to expound upon. Anyway: if you are a human with any sort of online life, I recommend this book.
As an Old(ish) Internet Person, this survey of how language has evolved as the world came online was fascinating from start to finish.
Finished it almost a month ago, so I find myself without many details to expound upon. Anyway: if you are a human with any sort of online life, I recommend this book.
I find this quite hard to review. As someone whose degree is languages and day job is tech, I've loved Gretchen's Twitter and blogs and excitedly had this book on pre-order since the first day it was available.
I found it really, really interesting, at many points I texted friends with interesting things I'd found, and things I'd forgotten about from the usage of internet past (I'd totally forgotten o.O ever used to be a thing). I'll probably be handing this book out and passing it around friends.
However I couldn't help feel that there was just something missing. I found the book quite easy to put down and forget to pick up again, despite the fact I started reading it within ten minutes on day one that I received it, it took me three days to finish. I'm definitely going to be excitedly handing it out to friends, but I have a gut nervousness I can't quite place that worries that they just won't like it.
Overall, I'm really glad I read it and I'm not disappointed. I can definitely imagine myself rereading it, especially in a few years to look back at how it aged. Perhaps it's just a victim of my own overhyped expectations?
I found it really, really interesting, at many points I texted friends with interesting things I'd found, and things I'd forgotten about from the usage of internet past (I'd totally forgotten o.O ever used to be a thing). I'll probably be handing this book out and passing it around friends.
However I couldn't help feel that there was just something missing. I found the book quite easy to put down and forget to pick up again, despite the fact I started reading it within ten minutes on day one that I received it, it took me three days to finish. I'm definitely going to be excitedly handing it out to friends, but I have a gut nervousness I can't quite place that worries that they just won't like it.
Overall, I'm really glad I read it and I'm not disappointed. I can definitely imagine myself rereading it, especially in a few years to look back at how it aged. Perhaps it's just a victim of my own overhyped expectations?
informative
medium-paced
Oh wow I really loved this book. Hit me right in one of my big nerdy sweet spots. And I think it’ll age well too, despite the constantly changing forms of expression on the Internet.
Could not get into this book. It's not what I thought it would be. It seemed very anecdotal and lacked clear vision.
I was so excited to finally get this audiobook on loan from my library. I felt like I'd been waiting for months, which of course is a great sign. I love linguistics and this is a popular book, so I was expecting a good solid read.
Well, it's a weird book. Informative, yes, but also weird.
It's weird because McCulloch uses words like "wonderfully" and "innovative" to praise EVERY SINGLE CHANGE that has been made to communication in The Internet Age. Fine, I'm all for progress and optimism too, but her firm Everything Is Awesome stance sounded far too enthusiastic. It was almost like she was trying to convince herself while she was convincing us that emoticons, abbreviations, alternate spellings and adopted lingo are all absolutely an enhancement to our culture and communication, no matter what they add. She only talks about how great this evolution must be, and leaves no room for the ways some of these changes might not be so "wonderful". IMHO, it's not a full examination if all sides are not explored.
It's also weird because the audio version is read by the author, which is rarely a good thing and this case fits the rule. McCulloch reads the book at breakneck speed, while adding a dash of smugness. Seriously, I stopped my Overdrive app multiple times just to ensure the speed was still on 1x. Perhaps this is why a lot of Audible and Overdrive reviewers are stating they need to revisit this book later?
I did learn a bit from this book, but I couldn't finish because I dreaded coming back to that voice. I might see if the eBook is available through Overdrive, just to finish it out.
Well, it's a weird book. Informative, yes, but also weird.
It's weird because McCulloch uses words like "wonderfully" and "innovative" to praise EVERY SINGLE CHANGE that has been made to communication in The Internet Age. Fine, I'm all for progress and optimism too, but her firm Everything Is Awesome stance sounded far too enthusiastic. It was almost like she was trying to convince herself while she was convincing us that emoticons, abbreviations, alternate spellings and adopted lingo are all absolutely an enhancement to our culture and communication, no matter what they add. She only talks about how great this evolution must be, and leaves no room for the ways some of these changes might not be so "wonderful". IMHO, it's not a full examination if all sides are not explored.
It's also weird because the audio version is read by the author, which is rarely a good thing and this case fits the rule. McCulloch reads the book at breakneck speed, while adding a dash of smugness. Seriously, I stopped my Overdrive app multiple times just to ensure the speed was still on 1x. Perhaps this is why a lot of Audible and Overdrive reviewers are stating they need to revisit this book later?
I did learn a bit from this book, but I couldn't finish because I dreaded coming back to that voice. I might see if the eBook is available through Overdrive, just to finish it out.
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
What a fun linguistic journey! Studying how the internet is evolving the way we communicate was even more fun than I anticipated. From texting, memes, and email to emoji and punctuation, the author examines how the internet has impacted informal writing in ways both mundane and revolutionary. She looks at questions such as "Why did emoji become so popular so quickly? What’s the deal with how people of different ages punctuate their emails and text messages so differently? Why does the language in memes often look so wonderfully strange?”
I found this book utterly delightful and compelling, finding in these pages insight into WHY I (and my friends and family and coworkers) write in certain ways in certain contexts. It provided explanations for why people of different age groups communicate via text so vastly differently (and why periods can come off as straight up hostile to some people). I found the examination of emoji particularly interesting, especially the comparison to physical gesture --- emoji are to informal text communication what physical gestures are to IRL conversational communication.
I found this book utterly delightful and compelling, finding in these pages insight into WHY I (and my friends and family and coworkers) write in certain ways in certain contexts. It provided explanations for why people of different age groups communicate via text so vastly differently (and why periods can come off as straight up hostile to some people). I found the examination of emoji particularly interesting, especially the comparison to physical gesture --- emoji are to informal text communication what physical gestures are to IRL conversational communication.