Social Media Changing the Face of the English Language
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We all know social media is changing the way we connect with people, but it’s also affecting the way we communicate with each other; that is when we actually speak instead of text, tweet or write on someone’s wall. I have one friend in particular, who tends to use the phrase “O.M.G.” for everything (for those few out there who do not know what that stands for, it’s “Oh my God”) in normal conversations.
At first this didn’t bother me much; however, it’s now affecting more than just my personal online life. Even getting asked out on a date no longer warrants phone calls, or even texts, at the very least. Instead, I receive Facebook messages, instant messages, or e-mails. I’m waiting for the moment I get tweeted for a date.
At one point in time, we actually called someone to speak with them and actually heard their voice. Now, we text. Add abbreviations of texting to our limit of 140 characters on Twitter, and abbreviations are now correct spellings of words. No wonder grammar and spelling are going down the drain.
Consider an abbreviation like “TTYL” (talk to you later) or “LOL” (laugh out loud). Next, look it up on Wikipedia or Dictionary.com. They are actually listed! And there is a correct way of writing these Internet lingo (granted it’s not AP Style, but that’s only a matter of time until the Associated Press has to put it in the manual). Of course, not all abbreviations are listed in a dictionary, as many are made up, but soon our abbreviations will get longer and more complicated because we can’t post, type or text fast enough.
Realistically, this is how most languages evolve. Have you ever read a King James version of a book? I can’t figure out what it’s saying either without reading it five times and having a dictionary handy. In the future, we could progress to “talking” in abbreviations completely, or even symbols. Tht wuld b crzy @ tmes!
It all boils down to the fact that we want information faster. Having to wait to type out a word such as “antidisestablishmentarianism” won’t cut it, and ignoring abbreviation use may just keep businesses and personal lives in the dark. So, with that in mind, I leave you with a few of the most popular abbreviations (I’ll start out slow):
APT: apartment
BYOB: bring your own booze
NM: nevermind
FTW: for the win
BLOG: Web log
DVD: digital video disk
WYSIWYG: what you see is what you get
Want more? Standard Word Abbreviations: http://www.abbreviations.com/; http://www.acs.utah.edu/acs/qa_standards/psstd02a.htm.
Megan Green is an advertising and marketing professional published on PR News Wire, as well as many other outlets. She specializes in social media and is currently looking for a full-time advertising position. Contact her on LinkedIn, Facebook, or at megankategreen@gmail.com
