“New Media and the Slow Death of the Written Word,” conveys the major controversy of the new media and how it affects the common citizen’s literacy. The traditional way, in the author’s view, is the best way to look at media but he finds the new media as exciting and opportunistic as well. We, as a society, should exploit the advantages of the new media as we still appreciate the traditional ones. This is because without the traditional media there wouldn’t be a new media present in our lives today. The combination of new technology and traditional media makes up what we call new media to this very day.

I agree with the author’s claim on the issues regarding how traditional media will never die. Traditional media will never die because it came about first and without it we would have nothing. It’s the primary source of expressing opinion, learning specific things and reading about current events. The new media is the same thing, however, it just throws in those extra details so many people have grown to adore. He is incorrect when he says the traditional media is the best form of media because the new media is quick and accessible as well. The fact that someone doesn’t have to pay a penny to get their news and express their opinions, in the form of an article, tells it all. New media surpasses, at great lengths, the magnitude of traditional media but traditional media is the patriotic form of mediums that cannot die out. The original form of media cannot die out because there is still a great population of those who revolve their lives around newspapers and other traditional texts.

The author’s ten rules are utilized to assist someone write effectively on the Internet. They are all very viable sources especially the one that states quality over quantity. That’s one of the biggest misconceptions students have because they feel if their essays to short, they’ve missed key information regarding the topic they were assigned to write about. The author makes a valid claim concerning this issue and it’s actually very useful. I feel, however, that he puts a little too much emphasis on images. He says that images can portray your views when you can’t convey your views in words. I think that that’s a little to vague because whenever someone doesn’t want to write something they could just put a picture in its place. That’s insufficient and it also displays a lack of effort which no teacher or editor ever desires to see. That’s probably the only modification I would have to make. Pictures are all well and fine but to a certain extent.

Something to add to the list of rules may be avoiding tools such as the synonyms icon that is very accessible on the Internet. You can very well utilize it but don’t make it a habit because it can indefinitely distort your writing. Too many big words may often make your paper seem unoriginal which may yield to a boring read. One may take into consideration, when writing, to keep it in your own words and maintain that original theme throughout the entire paper so the reader can become embedded in your writing.