Language Implications of Social Media
"You're not necessarily going to make a grand statement," [Thompson] says. "But at the same time, I like to think — I hope — that it's a little bit like haiku. I don't think anything should necessarily replace an extremely well-thought-out long-form opinion from somebody who listens to thousands and thousands of records. I'm always going to be interested in those people's opinions. But, at the same time, I want to know what my friends think, as well" (NPR, 2009).
As I began my research, I expected to find that we write and speak in shorter sentences, incorporating Internet speech, using abbreviations with reckless abandon. This assumption appears not to be the case. Internet speech, while including those famous abbreviations such as LOL (Laugh Out Loud), has instead become a hybrid of written and spoken language.
Baron (as quoted by Tagliamonte and Denis) dispels the notion of rampant “IM Speech” in teens’ use of instant messenging services. While 0.3% of the words had IM abbreviations such as “cuz” for because, less than .8% were initialisms such as “LOL” and only 0.4% used emoticons instead of actual words. She also found that teen users of these services used full words rather than contractions 65% of the time.
Tagliamonte and Denis suggest that instant messenger language, along with other types of computer-mediated communication (CMC), reflect a closer alignment between written and spoken communication. Baron also examines the changes in written sentence length over time. From c. 1600 to the 1980s, average written sentence lengths decreased from 70 to 20 words per sentence. It’s unlikely that the Elizabethans were speaking in 70-word sentences, according to Baron. Rather, their written language did little to reflect their spoken language. Even before the widespread advent of social media sites, spoken and written language were on their way to becoming representative of each other. These sites, however, have hurried that intersection's expansion.
This convergence of speech and written communication is the greatest effect that social media has had on our language. People write Facebook messages when they might have written a note a generation ago. Facebook users can alos post their own opinions through "notes" and tag interested users instead of submitting a letter to the local editor. Twitter provides a constant stream of how, what, why, when, and where we fill our days when we might have used a telephone a decade before.
These electronic communications replace both spoken and traditional written language. As English language teachers, we can harness this trend and use it in our classrooms. Students notice that we aren't doing that already. Out of 53 ninth through twelfth graders, 34 (over 64 percent) said they are sometimes or always told by adults to use different language in their speech or writing. The same number said they are never told by their peers to use different language. Over 79 percent of the same students always or sometimes use different language when talking to their peers than they do with adults. This data suggests that students are significantly more comfortable speaking and writing to their peers.
Over 72 percent of our surveyed students have Facebook accounts. The top three reasons stated for having an account? "To connect." "To keep in touch." "To talk." This communication differentiation happens on social networking sites. Maybe we should go to where the students are talking.
As I began my research, I expected to find that we write and speak in shorter sentences, incorporating Internet speech, using abbreviations with reckless abandon. This assumption appears not to be the case. Internet speech, while including those famous abbreviations such as LOL (Laugh Out Loud), has instead become a hybrid of written and spoken language.
Baron (as quoted by Tagliamonte and Denis) dispels the notion of rampant “IM Speech” in teens’ use of instant messenging services. While 0.3% of the words had IM abbreviations such as “cuz” for because, less than .8% were initialisms such as “LOL” and only 0.4% used emoticons instead of actual words. She also found that teen users of these services used full words rather than contractions 65% of the time.
Tagliamonte and Denis suggest that instant messenger language, along with other types of computer-mediated communication (CMC), reflect a closer alignment between written and spoken communication. Baron also examines the changes in written sentence length over time. From c. 1600 to the 1980s, average written sentence lengths decreased from 70 to 20 words per sentence. It’s unlikely that the Elizabethans were speaking in 70-word sentences, according to Baron. Rather, their written language did little to reflect their spoken language. Even before the widespread advent of social media sites, spoken and written language were on their way to becoming representative of each other. These sites, however, have hurried that intersection's expansion.
This convergence of speech and written communication is the greatest effect that social media has had on our language. People write Facebook messages when they might have written a note a generation ago. Facebook users can alos post their own opinions through "notes" and tag interested users instead of submitting a letter to the local editor. Twitter provides a constant stream of how, what, why, when, and where we fill our days when we might have used a telephone a decade before.
These electronic communications replace both spoken and traditional written language. As English language teachers, we can harness this trend and use it in our classrooms. Students notice that we aren't doing that already. Out of 53 ninth through twelfth graders, 34 (over 64 percent) said they are sometimes or always told by adults to use different language in their speech or writing. The same number said they are never told by their peers to use different language. Over 79 percent of the same students always or sometimes use different language when talking to their peers than they do with adults. This data suggests that students are significantly more comfortable speaking and writing to their peers.
Over 72 percent of our surveyed students have Facebook accounts. The top three reasons stated for having an account? "To connect." "To keep in touch." "To talk." This communication differentiation happens on social networking sites. Maybe we should go to where the students are talking.
