When readers can’t read
May 4, 2009Tony Self, founder of Hyperwrite and the AODC Conference, lecturer at Swinburne University, DITA expert, and all-round great guy, recently published an article in a members-only Australian technical communications journal about “What if readers can’t read”, where he postulates that writers will have to change to adapt to the new generations coming through our schools and universities now.
Tony also spoke on this at the recent WritersUA Conference and will repeat this presentation at the 2009 AODC Conference in Melbourne in May. I didn’t get to see it at WritersUA as it clashed with another session I particularly wanted to attend; however, I did read his article, which has caused a bit of controversy and discussion on some technical writing lists I’m on.
If you want evidence that the way young people communicate has changed dramatically, then you only need to view these short videos that Tony showed in his session (thanks to Kris W for alerting me to them):
- A Vision of Students Today: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o
- Shift Happens: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U
- Large Hadron Rap: www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM
CyberText Newsletter 
[…] in point: Rhonda Bracey blogs about the presentation Tony Self gave, based on an article he wrote titled What if Readers […]
Great stuff! I loved Tony’s article and these videos make the message all the more powerful.
Thanks for linking these up.