Is literacy a dying requirement for communication?

When TV became available to all it was touted as the greatest boon to learning since the printed word. It turned out quite differently. It is arguably the biggest boon to advertising since the soap box.

I fear the internet is on a similar slope downward. It has become a veritable maze of knowledge vs fables. Fact vs fiction. Truth vs lies. However, my gripe is more basic. The problem I see permeates all area of information, even from sources you would least expect: Literacy.

At first it was just young people who could not create a cohesive sentence or spell words with more than one syllable. Now I see an increase in the same from trusted news sources and established businesses. It isn't just the use of acronyms, in itself a sign of lazy writing. It's a general disregard for literacy.

Granted, it is most prevalent in areas that are meaningless, like social media or comments on videos or news items where comments are solicited. But that is an indication of a society that is losing it's grip on rational expression. It's always been true that speech, in any language, most commonly English, is an amalgam of dialects, many of which come from a lesser educated portion of those countries that speak it. However, when writing down thoughts one would think some discipline would prevail.

Do we no longer teach basics in English such as sentence structure, spelling, vocabulary and punctuation? Are they no longer important. Are we headed towards a society that relies solely on artificial intelligence for written communication?

Bruh

Chat GPT got here just in time. And English 101 has been replaced with Pronouns 101.

Nice try but you "coulda" said could have and what "predicament" am I trying to make?

I not i. See? Is that your method of shortening?

Bra

Poo

Another mature mind has joined the conversation.

To quote one of my college professors, “If the student hasn’t learnt, the teacher ain’t taught.” I agree with the OP (see, I just did it) in that acquiring communication skills has not been a priority in many educational programs. My question is this, did our generation fail to adequately prepare subsequent generations or did the explosion of technology catch all of us flat-footed?

The version I learned as a teacher was "If learning isn't happening neither is teaching". Same thing.

I think both. Lesson plans from the 40s were not updated to meet requirements of the 80s and so on. Exacerbating the issue was crowded schools, discipline problems due to both parents working, pressure from certain groups emphasizing social growth as opposed to pure education ( passing students through school without having them meet any required testing ).

I think a stronger influence has been basic internet pressure to be like everyone else (illiterate) and to discount the value of communication skills. The fact that "everyone does it" is a stronger motivator of a young mind than right or wrong at any level.

Literacy is required to be understood by literate people whether distinguished or not.

Well stated.

Literacy in speech is not near as important as in writing. In speech one might be asked to clarify something misunderstood. That's impossible when writing a book or a term paper or resume'.

That is, of course, true. But wouldn't it be better and easier to write it once intelligently, so no one is confused or misunderstands?