Texting, IM, E-mail, Social Networking and Traditional Literacy

For those of us who teach middle and high school students, we've all interacted with students who send approximately 7,431 text messages a month. Or spend countless hours primping their myspace pages, all while maintaining 13 instant message conversations. I'm not here to condemn the way in which hypertextuality is changing the way we communicate. But I do wonder if schools and teachers have taken much time to discuss these powerful trends.

Many English teachers have probably maintained a traditional view of literacy, in which critical, close readings of texts is valued. Narratives are unpacked, so to speak, and analytical writing is taught (at least to a degree). Focus on assignments is necessarily to develop critical thinking.
Within the world of our student's communication, however, focusing on a single task is one of the last things kids are prone to do.

I think the popularity of these new forms or communication has to do with their relevance to spoken word. Humans are drawn to the spoken word and orality. As a technological innovation, radio broadcasting took the nation by storm. The human brain is wired to thrive on the imagination required to create imagery when listening to spoken word. Maybe this is a stretch, but I see student obsession with hypertextuality as a way to enjoy forms of text that imitate the spoken word.

Which leads me to my next point--I don't think our students are encouraged, or deliberately taught very often, to engage in successful discussions or socratic seminars in class. These are rich forms of communication that teach critical thinking and have far more value than texting or instant messaging. It's easy to text a friend, but more difficult--and useful--to discuss with the same friend about elements of a novel or characterization.
I try to foster discussion skills in class to provide a counterbalance to the hypertextual communication that students relish.

On a final note, can traditional views on literacy be reconciled with these new trends? If so, how? What are the pedagogical mplications of widespread use of texting, IMing, social networking, etc.? Why else is this communication so appealing to people? Do teachers need to change their teaching/communication methods to reflect what's out there in society?