Television and Internet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Television and Internet - Essay Example During the 1980's basic computers were bought by mostly techno-savvy individuals across the country. Some of the first home computers were the Timex Sinclair and the Apple IIC. The programs that would run on these computers were very basic. Compuserve was one of the first communications networks open to civilian use. Compuserve's service provided access to bulletin boards that provided a spot to post messages on specific topics and allowed real time communications via keyboarding much like the chat rooms of today. This 'chat' room opportunity drew many to the internet as a resource for real-time communications as well as providing a forum for posting of ideas and questions. Memberships to these bulletin boards were often anonymous and so freedom of expression took hold when users could identify themselves by 'user names'. With the more developed internet of the 1990's electronic mail (email) gradually replaced phone calls as the primary form of communication. Like any language, email developed its own grammar and syntax over time. Email language consists of mostly short sentences or sentence fragments. Feelings are often conveyed using typographical representations such as: : ) for happy, : ( for sad. Many other typographical representations exist. ... There are many other emoticons that are used frequently in email and chat rooms as well as blogs. Other types of language used in emails and chat rooms are also done using typographical representation. The most common one is called shouting and is when something is stated using only capital letters. 'LEAVE ME ALONE!' says a lot more than 'leave me alone'. The use of email and email record keeping has recently been mandated by law and are considered communications. Most notably is the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) rule that requires financial advisors and others in the securities field to maintain copies of emails. Securities firms such as Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch must keep electronic records of emails sent and received by their employees. The White House is currently embroiled in controversy over the loss of emails. "Millions of White House e-mails may be missing, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino acknowledged Friday. I wouldn't rule out that there were a potential 5 million e-mails lost," Perino told reporters.(Henry, 2007) Like Richard Nixon's White House Tapes, those emails are an important record of communications within the White House and are thus subject to monitoring and record keeping rules. 'Blogs' are the newest addition to the internet. Just about anyone can have a blog and experience being published. 'Blogging' is when someone, or organization, uses a web page format to write about specific topics. The blog also offers the opportunity for feedback from readers of these blogs. Blogs also offer an insider's look at current events. Soldiers stationed in Iraq have been publishing blogs about life in the combat zone. The Department of Defense has begun regulating what