Clive Thompson on the New Literacy

After having read "the New Literacy," it becomes apparent that skeptics still exist revolving the subject of technology being introduced and actually benefiting the scholastic world. The author of this essay however, Clive Thompson, is not found in this crowd. He rather suggests that there are some who feel technology is corrupting the way this new generation of students write. This affects me because he is referring to my generation of students. I don't completely agree with the idea that technology corrupts how my peers and I write, though I do find some valid points in the argument.
Technology is a blessing. It allows students to multi-task on a whole different level than any previous generation. We have endless sources of information both relevant and completely irrelevant and the click of a mouse. It's completely incomparable to any generation before us as far as speed and accessibility of information goes. This is why it's important to me, and the structure I see technology providing for my studies. Thompson's idea of why technology isn't a bad thing for students is for another reason.
He believes in what a Stanford prose professor had to say in answering the claims that technology is a burden to the new generation of writing. This would be that all of the use of facebook, twitter, and any similar sites that have blown up in popularity among most people in the teenage to mid-twenties age group, actually help and bring a new era of writing to this generation. Due to all of the social interaction in between people on these sites, it increases their ability to distinct between what audiences the kids in this generation are writing to. This then teaches them to adapt their styles of writing. In Thompson's article, this was compared to the Greek form of argument, which was said to be the last time a similar writing type to this was seen. It was compared to the Greek form of argument because of the same use of tools such as persuasion, and adapting to the audience in which you are a peaking to. A form that I believe is called kairos in Thompson's article.
The point that is being put across is that technology is reviving an od style and ability of writing. Sure it can distract any student while in the classroom by having them go on facebook or something similar, but isn't the same distraction possible with a bored student drawing in their notebook. At least with sites technology is reminding students how to adapt to their audiences in their writing. This is important because not only does it provide a wide variety of writing styles, it allows students to differentiate when to use "texting type" writing, and when to use "academic type" writing, such as omitting smilies and whatnot. What it comes down to is the more relevancy the writing has to do to the students life, the more they learn how to grow in their writing. That is how texting, facebook, and similar writing sources are helping this new generation of students that Thomas discusses.