Old Skool Vs. New Skool

I had the chance this past week to write two different people whom have influenced my life. I was to write one letter by hand and the other by via e-mail. I decided to write my mom by hand, and my brother by email.

Being a mamma's boy, I had to write my mom by hand. It felt normal writing my mom in free-hand. I lived overseas for two years and I had tons of practice on how to ask for more money and snacks. I wrote mom and told her how I appreciate her hard work and being the backbone of the family since dad passed away. I received her letter this week and was happy to get a quick response. She told me how proud she was and that she missed writing to me, she also wanted me to focus on school and to be careful in Oregon. The letter from mom is always heart felt and sincere, mom's are worried about there kids even when their grown adults. After reading what she wrote, I realized how many of us rely on technology to keep in touch with people we care about. Many of us don't take time to write a heart felt letter to someone important. My mom has never had a email account and has never used a computer so she relies on postal mail and her land line phone to reach people. Writing a letter to mom was a huge given in this assignment. It seems that writing a letter is becoming a lost art, and getting a written letter makes it valuable to me even more.

As for my brother, I emailed him, thanking him for being a good brother to me. I also thanked him for watching over mom while I'm in school. Its was kind of difficult to say "I love you" to my brother. I needed to say it in a macho way like "Keep holding it down." I sent the email and I got a instant reply in within a couple of hours. He told me, I was getting "soft", but he thanked me for the email. We joke a lot online, so my brother kept it simple when responding to me. He didn't write a full page like my mom did, but it was enough to know he loved his big brother. Wood and Smith talked about hyperpersonal communication, when individuals are better able to express their feelings online. With my brother, I feel as if he was more comfortable showing his feelings to me online. He doesn't express his feelings a lot in public. I guess being online can help others show different feelings that they don't express out in the open. 

I couldn't imagine how technology can affect messages by electronic or hand written mail. Wood and Smith explained emoticons. I use them all time when emailing or texting friends. W & S explain that its close to the traditional nonverbal cues. It also serves as the same function as a face-to-face, as it provides a communicative information to the receiver. I have not noticed the use of emoticons, because i'm just accustomed to using them to get my point across to others online or texting. I used emoticons when writing my brother, but not to mom, she would not understand what i'm trying to convey to her. Its amazing to read how traditional nonverbal cues are being used online without notice.  It just shows how fast paced our day of age is to the good old days of writing a letter. I think it shouldn't be taken for granted.