Always On

Naomi S. Baron argues that the way we read, write, speak, and listen is changing under the pull of online and mobile tools such as instant messaging, cell phones, Facebook, blogs, and wikis. Her central claim is that these shifts are not the ones most people expect. Drawing on ten years of research, she examines how language works in a connected, mobile world.

One of her findings is that email, instant messages, and text messages have had surprisingly little effect on how students write. The casual, couldn't-care-less attitude toward formal writing that many young people have adopted has been amplified by digital media, though Baron contends that the technology did not create it. She sees a more worrying pattern in how people manage contact: blocking instant messages, hiding their identities on Facebook, and using ringtones or caller ID to filter calls. In her view, the power to choose who we communicate with is likely to be among the most enduring effects of information technology on human interaction.

As more people stay perpetually connected, whether they are working, messaging, browsing, or gaming, Baron asks what kinds of people we become as individuals, relatives, and friends when our relationships must compete with screens for attention. She notes that a written culture several centuries old is now being reshaped. The book urges readers to decide for themselves how and when to use these tools, and to weigh the personal and social gains against the losses of always being online.