Words as selfie, photobomb and unfriended are very common nowadays. Yet, these words didn’t exist a couple of years ago. Social media is changing our language. We even create new verbs like Googling and tweeting for example. We created new ways of communicating, by using emoticons and acronyms such as LOL, BRB, OMG and so on.
Another phenomenon we see nowadays is the re appropriation of existing words. Like the word friended or unfriended. Thanks to Facebook these words have an entirely different meaning than they had before.
You could say that language changes over time, and that this change is similar to the changes back in the days.
I’m wondering whether this change in language is similar to the changes before, or that this change in language will have a major influence on the way people see the world, and even make the world dumber.
To illustrate this, I’ve found the following meme that describes my concern:
This is a meme created by a parent. Her son saw a bird outside, and instead of saying ‘oh look it’s a bird’, he said ‘oh look it’s a Twitter’. This example illustrates the problem we might be facing with social media. On the other hand, you could call this a funny mistake.
So my question to you is; in what terms has social media changed language, and could this be a (future) problem for the way we speak to each other.
Sources:
http://www.englishtown.com/blog/has-social-media-changed-the-way-we-speak-and-write-english/
Interesting post! I also think Social Media has changed our language. I feel like the younger generation uses more “social media slang” and that they don’t even mind. This could be a problem when they start their professional careers. I also think Social Media has changed the way we interact. Many people have, sort of, lost some of their social skills, because it’s easier to say something through text. And let’s not forget the emoji’s and hashtags.
Great post! I definitely think Social Media has an huge impact on our language! Specially the younger generation, who use various social media networks on a day to day basis, use more slangs and acronyms to communicate with people. The constant use of this type of language could have an impact on their professional platform and even while writing a simple formal email. They might find it hard to think of a well structured sentence without the use of a slang, acronym or an emoticon. This in turn could also affect the way they talk and interact with people.
Social media has a major influence on everyone’s lives, hence I think it is important to keep a balance between the ‘real and reel world’.