What is your definition of writing?
What activities constitute writing?
What activities do not constitute writing?
Why?
Writing is a tool used to transmit, record, and build knowledge through written language. Activities that constitute writing is anything that meets the criteria of this definition through written language. This includes the writing of syllabi, satire, historical text, fictitious novels, biographies, etc. Things that do not constitute writing would be works that don’t contribute to these goals. This would be graffiti, casual texts, and most snap chats or tweets.
I mostly agree with this because I believe writing must have a purpose to be true writing, except that I also believe other things such as graffiti and snapchats are also writing, because they still have a meaning to at least one person for the most part.
Your definition of writing is clear and complete however you are missing one valuable piece of information that is to write and communicate you need a publicly established alphabet or key of symbols. This alphabet will clarify what these certain symbols mean and what feelings they constitute. – Will Tanner
While I agree with the bulk of your definition, I would disagree with your statement that “casual texts, and most snap chats or tweets” would not constitute writing. Your own definition of writing was anything that is “used to transmit, record, and build knowledge through written language.” Now, although perhaps some casual texts might be so mutilated as to fail at doing this, surely the whole point of a text is to transmit knowledge from one person to another, is it not? The same would apply to most snap chats or tweets, although we would both certainly recognize some exceptions. I would remind you that just because a text, tweet, or snap chat does a poor job of conveying knowledge doesn’t mean that it fails entirely. Communication that is of poor quality is still communication, assuming it is not entirely illegible.