Is ‘New Media’ a New Language?
The way we communicate on all social media sites and even in text messages, seems to those unfamiliar with it to be a different language. However, I’m thinking that that viewpoint may be correct; that ‘social media’ could be an entirely new language. When limited to text-based interaction, many people felt that the intimacy was lost. As Baym (2010) discovered in her 2002 survey, people felt that “Face to face is much more personal; phone is personal as well, but not as intimate as face to face. The internet is the least personal but it’s always available”. The invention of the first emoticon drastically predates this survey and even the invention of the internet itself, but since then it has spawned many new emoticons. As expressed by Baym (2010), most emoticons are based on expressing feelings, but some of them are just for fun.
Looking beyond the world of emoticons, Baym (2010) also explored how we use punctuation, shortening of words and exaggerated forms of words to express ourselves and show where the emphasis of the sentence lies. I know myself that online interaction must be a new way of communicating as sometimes I’m not sure what an acronym means and I have to learn. For example, a while ago I was seeing the acronym ‘smh’ everywhere and after a while I came to learn it stands for ‘shaking my head’. This is a great example of the users of the internet bringing social cues from face to face interaction into text-based communication.
In the world of the internet, we have a totally new set of social norms set for different kinds of interactions. For example, it’s normal and arguably logical that if you like a person and they have Twitter, you follow them and if you see a post on Facebook that you think is funny/entertaining then you like it and if you see someone you’d like to be friends with or you know in real life, you send them a friend request. However, if you take these seemingly normal interactions out of the virtual world and slot them into the real world, the behaviours suddenly seem odd or just downright disturbing.
Although the emoticon has been revolutionary in the realm of online expression, they should be used in moderation. Thibodeau (2010) warns to “keep your emoticons in check” as using too many or silly emoticons can “have the effect of a squealing teenager”. She stresses the importance of considering whom the message is being sent to; writing a message to a friend is very different to addressing a potential employer. It can be difficult to strike a balance between use of emoticons and colloquial terms and making a message clear. Baym (2010) argues that “mediated communication should be seen as a new and eclectic mixed modality that combines elements of face to face communication with elements of writing” and I wholeheartedly agree. Many years ago people may have worried that their messages would or could be misconstrued by the receiver, but with the use of acronyms, emoticons and other appropriated social cues, that concern is almost completely eliminated. However, it does mean that when you type something, you have to make certain that you’re using appropriate internet social cues, or your message may come out sounding completely different to how you intended.
Image sourced from World Wide IT News
Reference List:
adclubjaipur. 2011. “If Facebook and Twitter Were Real Life.” YouTube video, posted July 4. Accessed April 12, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIY5rifojPw
Baym, Nancy. 2010. “Chapter 3: Communication in Digital Spaces.” In Personal connections in the digital age, edited by Nancy Baym, 50-61. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Thibodeau, Amy. 2012. “Keep your emoticons in check.” Accessed April 12, 2014. http://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2012/sep/14/mind-your-language-emoticons