A Brand New World

• Author: Kenneth P. Nolan
• Pages: 115-119

A Brand New World

115

We lived on farms, then we lived in cities, and now

we’re going to live on the internet.

—The Social Network

We don’t talk. We text, tweet, e-mail, and post the mundane

and forgettable—“little Zoe slept till 8:30, big lax game tomorrow,

omg the best pepperoni pizza.” We publicize unimportant, trivial

incidents that reveal our lives to be painfully ordinary.

The young are addicted to these amazing instruments. As a re-

sult, they talk less, interact less, date less. Everything is visual. Words

have little value. A penny, a good old copper Abe for each smiley-

face emoticon, would make me as rich as Mark Zuckerberg. Words

no longer express emotions; symbols convey sadness, humor, or

love.

Spelling rules, once inviolate, are obsolete. Words are short-

ened, abbreviated for speed, and space is more important than ac-

curacy. And don’t just tell me about the seafood risotto at the hip

East Village Italian, here’s a picture. If you want to learn about the

sleek bar and ancient bathroom, check out the video on my

Facebook page. Words are inadequate, take too long, require too

much thought and effort. Just browse the photos and videos and

you’ll see everything.