Metaphors be with you

Blog on language and new media

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The power of social media

These last few years, charities have also been using social media for their cause. From Movember to the Ice bucket challenge we’ve all heard of it and maybe some of you even participated by giving funds.  The latest one was started by a group of people including actor Ben Stiller and French youtuber Jerome Jarre. They “randomly” sent a tweet to Turkish Airline to ask for a plane to ship food to help end the famine crisis in Somalia. 

Watch the video here:  https://twitter.com/jeromejarre/status/842807166184701953

The tweet was retweeted and shared and went viral so of course, Turkish Airline answered and agreed to give them not only one plane but 3!  Their next step was to find food and for that they used the website GoFundMe, set up a new hashtag and once again it went viral. They now have enough money to fund 10 planes! 

They now set up another hashtag #NominatedForSomalia which - didn’t you already guess? WENT VIRAL AGAIN! This time, the idea is to fund more sustainable ways to provide food for Somalia.

INTERNET YOU DID IT !!! 💪 WE HAVE AN AIRPLANE & WE HAVE FOOD !!! WHAT IF WE COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING? ➡️ #NominatedForSomalia 🚨 pic.twitter.com/lIDq5geWV9

What do you think of this kind of initiative? 

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Emoji-language(s)

Did it ever occur to you that your way of using emojis could lead to misunderstanding and confusion? Nowadays, most messages are adorned with emojis that, as far as I’m concerned, are supposed to support the message and its comprehension, and to make it more lively. This is all very well, but what happens when the recipient doesn’t entirely get your message simply because she or he has another emoji-understanding? First of all, it’s worth mentioning that emojis were introduced by Japanese mobile phone companies, and it’s already partially known that some emojis are indeed used incorrectly, at least from the Japanese point of few. Let’s have a look at the following examples: What do they mean? Angry emoji? Worried emoji? Sad emoji? A waitress? An emoji dancing YMCA or ballet?

In my opinion, the first emoji is unmistakeably snorting, isn’t it? Thus, it must be an equivalent for an angry condition. But far from it! This emoji shows an expression of triumph. Is the next one worried? Well, actually it expresses a disappointed but relieved emotion. No, the next emoji isn’t sad, it’s simply sleeping and the misinterpreted tear simply represents a snob bubble, which you might know from diverse anime series. True, the girl isn’t holding a serving tray but still it looks to me like a typical waitress-gesture. Do you know the solution? It represents a person at an information desk. What about the last emoji? Nope, it’s not dancing, I’m afraid. This emoji is supposed to show an okay gesture, which I can definitely not see. Probably many more emoji-misinterpretations exist that cause misunderstandings throughout our texting-communication. In which context do you use the three monkeys, for instance?

Is it simply another moment of “lost in translation”?

Source: dailymail

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I completely agree with you! It also has to be added that emojis are different whether you’re using an android or apple device! Even the emojis on Facebook change! This has lead to so many confused discussions with my friends!

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Stop for a second and look up. 

How many people around you are looking at their phone instead of paying attention to the people around them? How many people are sitting next to each other without talking, their eyes blankly fixed on their computer/phone? Do you remember of that time when it was easy meeting other people? Do you remember how trains used to be filled with conversation and laughter? Now everything is quiet. Life is no longer happening the real world. Life is now happening online.

The irony is that my own eyes are fixed on my laptop screen to write this post while I am seating in the library with my friends. The irony is that, I too belong to that online generation, who looks at memes online and tag friends on the comments section rather than actually show it to them even though they are standing right beside me.  Stop for a second and look up.

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(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMAadAbcJgw) One of the main purpose of social media is to provide connection between people from all over the world at any time. But how can you create connection if you’re not being real?  For instance, if I am posting a picture of a nice landscape on Instagram you might like it and feel jealous. What you won’t be aware is that this photo might be surrounded by a bin cleverly cropped out of the square.  This is what photographer Chompoo Baritone decided to deal with in his series of photo showing The Truth Behind Social Media. Here are a few of the shots:

Have you ever done this kind of thing? Do you think social media deprives us from our honesty? Does it make us fake? 

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(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pyJlERCrJE)

Making new friends is not the easiest thing on earth. However, with social media it’s made easier. Remember that girl/boy you’ve met last time you went to Park bar because they were with someone you knew? How quickly did you add them on Facebook afterwards? Relationships are made easier. Everyday we do this social networking experience and we don’t even realise it. It has become an automatic reflex. Of course this video and this specific social experiment pushes it to parody but it’s funny because it’s real. It’s funny because we’ve all done that before: asking a friend to introduce you to someone because they were friend on Facebook, following random people on Twitter just because you liked what they said or even just acknowledging/caring about the number of people liking your photos on Instagram. After watching this video I’ve started paying more attention to this kind of behaviour around me, have you?      

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Then vs. Now

A photo posted by The New Yorker Cartoons (@newyorkercartoons) on Oct 6, 2016 at 12:01pm PDT

Recently I’ve been questioning myself a lot about my addiction to social media. It’s a fact: I can’t spend more than 15 minutes without looking at my phone or my Facebook timeline. I even get bored looking at it but somehow can’t force myself into repressing the urge of repetitively scrolling down the screen of my smartphone. So it led me to wonder about what my life would look like if smartphones, laptops and social media didn’t exist. They are useful for everything. Lost in a new city? Here’s a GPS app. No idea what to eat tonight? Here’s a website ranking restaurants around you... and you even get discounts if you book a table through them. You name it.   

- How have smartphones changed our lives and our habits?

- Do you think it’s for the best?

- Do we really need to be connected all the time?