In Defence of Writing

Following the argument on the use of social media to promote reading and writing, particularly among boys, comes a warning with regard to the quality of English writing among university students. Professor David Abulafia, a historian from Cambridge, warns that the standard is dropping as a result of Twitter and Facebook.

New Technology - old behaviour

A brief study of today's news finds three sports stars making the news for tweets.  Bring on common sense I say.  The stories concern Lewis Hamilton, Kevin Pietersen and Ashley Cole.  I am tempted to suggest that even the latest bust-up in a celebrity relationship is of greater interest.

The Political Role of Social Media

An interesting discussion of the limitations of social media, considered in the light of the Presidential Elections in the US.  The point surely, like specialist TV channels, is that such media choice does not encourage you to learn something new; it rather serves to confirm what you already know.  The question then is how can we get people to challenge the views that they already hold; such learning, evolving or changing opinions, seems essential to me.