Language
has the power to influence and unify countries through the use social networks, as without language we would not be able to complete even simple tasks. As technology has progressed over the years, it has changed our language into a visually-orientated print that heavily uses symbols and icons. It is this increasing advancement
that has pulled us away from our old ways of simply sharing stories and
important knowledge through speech. Historically it was believed that something
as simple as reading or writing was magical and extremely rear to obtain,
whereas in our society today these skills are learnt at a young age according to Dr Victoria Kuttainen (2017). No longer
are we seeking knowledge from elders or passing stories down to our children
about historical or religious events. (Chatwin 1987, p.1) Instead we depend and abuse
the use of internet and online social networks as forms of communication and
information, which has heavily impacted our everyday language.
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| Image 1: Crivellaro (2015) |
Over time social networks has not only shaped the way we communicate with
others, but also the way we used language itself to express our emotions.
Instead of writing letters to our friends and family members, we can send them
an instant message online via Facebook. Not only can we send instant messages,
but we have the option to include icons such as emoji’s and stickers. These
symbols are a perfect way to express your emotions along with providing an even
quicker way to communicate our feelings to others. However, this means that
instead of using simple English literature to convey our feelings, we are
relying on a small picture of an emoji to visually show the readers our
emotions. It is no surprise that our literacy skills have dramatically decreased
through the use of social networks, which introduces us to slang and abbreviations.
Our society
has become obsessed with constantly finding quick alternatives for everything,
which leads to the creation of slang and common abbreviations. Not only has
this become very popular to use online in instant chat rooms, it has also
become a destructive habit on young students who reply so heavily on
abbreviations, that they are slowly forgetting simple grammar and literary skills. Now
we cannot go around blaming websites such as Facebook for single handily creating this change in language, as this website is also responsible for many positive
changes in our English language and society. We need to remember that it is not
Facebook we talk about, it is the medium of the content that we analyse, so
Facebook is not to blame, however it’s the users that should be held accountable.
This visually-oriented website has established an effective way to keep up-to-date
with the world and local news, including the creation of a virtual community.
Although not everyone favours Facebook, it can be harder to stay offline as now
many business and educational institutions are expanding their work online.
Falling behind academically, socially, and financially becomes a huge reason
most people stay online in the first place. It is important that Facebook and
other social networks create a positive environment where everyone feels welcome
and able to contribute ideas comfortably. “Thus a warm conversation between
friends can make the place itself seem warm; by contrast, a malicious speech
has the power to destroy a place’s reputation and thereby it’s visibility.” (Tuan 1977, p.1)
References
Crivellari, T. (2015). Facebook
Emoji- Freedies. Retrieved from https://dribbble.com/shots/2283376-Facebook-Emoji-Freebies
Daniesi, M. (2016). From cave
drawings to emojis: Communication comes a full circle. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_QylCztffk
Tuan,
Y. (1977). BA1002: BA1002 Our space: Networks, narratives and the making of
place, week 5: (Readings), Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au
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