Social Media's Language

     In my response paper, I argued that social media, specifically Twitter, serves as a platform for people to use “internet language” to their advantage, rather than focus on grammar and spelling differences, to spread important messages worldwide. This argument stems from McCulloch's statement, "from a linguistic perspective, all varieties are equally worthy: every language and dialect is just as much a manifestation of the incredible human language ability that is our birthright as a species" (49), while also saying she wonders what it would be like in a world where grammar and spelling mistakes do not matter. I used Bindi Irwin as an example to show that the use of internet language does not mean that the message is not impactful, in fact that would be far from the truth. However, an aspect that I did not look into in my paper was the fact that this is also common in those who are not well known or celebrities. Social media gives people who may not have the educational opportunities others have had, or just struggle with writing a chance to have their message heard without it being edited, revised, ridiculed or criticized. There are so many examples of this all over the internet of ordinary people's tweets going "viral" or videos, Facebook posts, etc.. I think those who say that "internet language" is simple and lazy, just want to undermine the message and arguments that every day people want to share with the world. On social media, for the most part if your argument and message is clear and beneficial, not many people will focus on minor grammar and spelling errors. I focused more on the not blatantly obvious "internet language" (basic, gucci, ect.) and more on abbreviations, run-on sentences, short, incomplete sentences and emojis.

I am unsure if including random individuals' tweets and videos from the internet would be appropriate, so I included the tweets I used for Bindi Irwin, so that it can explain what I am talking about by saying not blatantly obvious "internet language." Two of these are retweets and one is her tweet.

The way she writes and the way the people who she retweeted write may not be 100% grammatically correct, however, this is the normal way of writing on social media. She is just one of so many examples in celebrities and regular people worldwide. Ultimately, social media truly does have its own language that only those who use it would understand.

 

Crowe, Russell [@russellcrowe]. “Turtle. Strong. #turtle”, Twitter, 24 May, 2021. 

Irwin, Bindi [@BindiIrwin]. “6 months ago. I took a leap & shared a project I’d been working on

for over 5 years. This book means so much to me & I’m incredibly proud to share it with you. Thank you for your kindness & encouragement. Supporting conservation & shipping worldwide.”, Twitter, 21 May, 2021. 

McCulloch, Gretchen. Because Internet: Understanding how language is changing.

             Harvill Secker, 2019, pp. 17-63. 

Wildlife Warriors [@wildwarriors]. “The Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve acts as a haven for so

many rare and endangered species. This #EndangeredSpeciesDay, we are celebrating the 330,000 acres of untouched Australian wilderness with abundant wildlife and plant species across 35 thriving ecosystems.”, Twitter, 21 May, 2021.