Are you interested in one week's work placement in The Irish Times? Transition Year students can learn first-hand about the workings of this newspaper if their submission is published in Media Scope's weekly Over to You column. Just send us a 200-word piece on a media-related topic.
In recent years, there has been an obvious decline in human interaction. The blame has been placed on every new technological gadget - first it was the telephone, then it was e-mail, then Internet chat rooms and now . . . text messages.
Eircell's introduction of this service just a few weeks ago has given birth to a new phenomenon: a few clicks of a keypad and you send a memo or essay (depending on your patience) to anybody on the 086 or 087 network. There is now no need to give Mary a "quick buzz" to ask a question or arrange a meeting - for just 10p you can ask the question, send it in an instant and save yourself the phone bill and the plight of hearing all the details of her previous night's endeavours.
So what's the problem? Well, no matter how convenient something is, we make it more convenient. When writing text messages we suddenly begin to substitute u for you, da for the and so on. Our short messages not only lack interaction but throw our English out the window, making us sound like we are "rolling with the homies" in a seedy New York suburb.
People will now sit for hours exchanging short abbreviated notes with questions, comments and jokes without considering a chat. What will become of us if this trend continues? Will the ringing of the phone be replaced by the message notification beep? Will we lose our "gift of the gab" and become inarticulate? Or could we face the plight of becoming socially stunted - addicted to our messages and getting new adverse disorders like "text thumb"?
Ruth Forman, Santa Sabina, Sutton, Co Dublin
The marketing team of TY, the company that makes the phenomenally successful "Beanie Babies", has succeeded in exploiting millions of young children through a clever marketing campaign.
Get this: Beanies are created, very cute little bean-filled animals, all with different names and personalities. Kids all over the globe go crazy for them and TY see they're on to a good thing. A system of "retiring" the Beanies is put in place, so everyone rushes out to grab the retiring ones. Then, gasp, shock, horror, all Beanies are to retire on New Year's Eve 1999! The world goes into disarray, people frantically searching the shops for them, getting little protectors for their tags, selling them for hundreds of pounds. But, wait, the good old Beanie Baby company comes along a few months later and announces an Internet vote: "Should Beanies continue?" YES!!!!! say the little kiddies. So the world is saved and Beanies shall go on.
Write to media scope by posting your comments to Newspaper in the Classroom, The Irish Times, 11-16 D'Olier Street, Dublin 2 , or faxing them to (01) 679 2789. Be sure to include your name, address and school, plus phone numbers for home and school. Or you can use the Internet and email us at mediapage@irishtimes.ie
media scope is a weekly media studies page for use in schools. Group rates and a special worksheet service (see `faxback', right) are available: FREEPHONE 1-800-798884. media scope is edited by Harry Browne.
