Language of social media

We all are recipients of different types of social media. We watch television, we read newspapers, we listen to the radio and finally- we use the Internet. We can observe how the language of these media changes. But is it a good change? We think not and we want to prove that it doesn’t have to be like this.

Introduction

First thing we would like to refer to is savoir vivre. It is an enormous number of rules which specify how a person should behave. It connects with every domain of social life such as communication and language.

Savoir vivre

• you should look in your interlocutor eyes,

• you shouldn’t interrupt,

• you should be gentle,

• you shouldn’t let your emotions control you,

• your words shouldn’t be a speech of hate,

• you shouldn’t offend anyone.

Basic rules

How is social media changing language usage?

Some people say social media is killing our language. Their arguments are innumerable, but they mostly cite the excessive usage of undecipherable initialisms, incorrect abbreviations, and cutesy emoticons. Others believe that social media is not ruining language, but rather simply changing the ways in which we use the language to express ourselves.

The presentation of the linguist John McWhorter refers to the familiar love-hate relationship that people have with the usage of "LOL" (laugh out loud), "uh," "um," "like," and "you know", which are now markers for empathy and accommodation. They’re "pragmatic particles" - words or phrases that are not connected semantically to the context of the sentence, but rather indicate the speaker’s attitude.

Another new language phenomenon is the discreet usage of a full stop. Rather than just signifying the end of a thought or replacing missing letters, a period is now showing anger and aggression. (e.g. "Worst. Breakfast. Ever." or "Best. Party. In. History.")

Other punctuation mark usage is changing, too.A question mark no longer shows inquisition, but is now often used to soften too assertive or self-serving messages. And who could forget about ellipsis? Once used to indicate an omission of a word or sentence, ellipses now help to keep a conversation open and light, and encourage the other person to respond.

How will social media continue to change our language? According to The New York Times, we will begin communicating via images only, without including text. This is already happening to a large extent, and makes sense based on the popularity of Instagram, Tumblr, etc. Images briefly deliver a message or express the person's mood.