The gradual technological advances continue to modify the way people do their business, have rest, and interact with others. For instance, the development of a tiny integrated circuit (SoC) made way for modern smartphones that became relatively compact and affordable daily assistants for their users. In 2018, 96% of Americans were found by Pew Research Center (2019) to own mobile phones, whereas 77% of them reported having a smartphone. Young generations, mostly aged 18-29, were reported by the same investigation to hit 100% ownership with seniors’ share gradually increasing since 2013. The Web’s available technical solutions and access enforce social networking services such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram. In their turn, services provide room for people to form social groups bonded together by shared social, gender, ethnic, political stance, or common interest. Shared ideologies also guide people on how to use language and which emotions it should elicit in response to others’ comments. Linguistic norms in force on the Web should be perceived as an essential driver of modern language development rather than classified as illiteracy.
Purpose Statement
The aim of this paper is to analyze how ideologies, as belief systems that are shared by social actors, influence the use of language both on the Internet and in face-to-face interactions. Belief systems provide the needed coherence to the group to ensure its proper functioning. The focus will be on the theoretical background that explains human behavior on the Web and analysis of language norms present on Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, and Twitter. The nature of the topic dictates to apply the mixed research method dealing both with quantitative and qualitative data. The most recent findings and articles available in the field will be compiled and analyzed. Next, semantic and grammar analysis of linguistic norms on popular websites should be done to find current trends. The paper aims to confirm or negate the idea that ideologies reflect in social and cognitive functions of the Internet language. At the same time, the group members shape their discourse in line with their social practices.
Languages have always been evolving, shifting, and developing dialects through the history of humanity. It seems that social networking intensified this process, profoundly influencing how people use or alter their speech both on the Web and in face-to-face interactions. The communication network’s logic totally supports the development of networked individualism, which is a current significant change in sociability (van Dijk, 2020). The emergence of this structure, together with historical evolution, intensifies individualism as a dominant value of modern societies. The proposed research is of high significance as analysis of network societies and their influence on language is currently underrepresented.
Problem Statement
Well-known social theorists Barry Wellman, Manuel Castelles, and Jan van Dijk presented and developed the idea of “network society” to explain modern technologies’ social effects and new communication methods. In general, the network society is a current social formation based on media networks infrastructure that shapes its prime mode of organization and essential structure at organizational, individual, and societal levels (van Dijk, 2020). This concept opposes mass society’s idea and believes in a new media’s increased role in a hyper-connected world.
The digital era and its communication methods provide more possibilities for small groups to assert themselves in their community or even the whole world. In that case, ideologies as fundamental social beliefs play an essential role in determining which cultural values are binding them (van Dijk, 2020). Although different ideas and value sets can be found on the Web, social media is highly personalized. The specific information and content usually target those who are initially in sync with it. The main problem is that often it puts one’s point of view to the extremes. This phenomenon makes a situation when two neighbors have opposite beliefs regarding local politics or other issues possible. Nevertheless, even small groups and communities united by their own perceptions of the world may be heard by others in the network society. In their turn, these ideologies shape how group members direct their discourse to their interests and which language they use. It creates a socio-cognitive interface into the group social structure based on its members’ social practices, discources, and shared values.
Although social media and communication technologies increase linkages between people, they still feel the necessity to show their individuality. Internet users build their sociability by selecting communication networks, expressing their own opinions, joining social groups, and using language in line with their social practices. Thus, the network society is still an interconnected group of individuals who share standard features, values, and opinions. Different groups apply specific and unique words from their culture, social practices, native language, or profession. Thus, linguistic variations usually occur due to social contact between people who possess similar backgrounds, beliefs, or intentions (Stocker & Bossomaier, 2014). For instance, as a peer group, teenagers create their own slang to distinguish themselves from older generations. Social groups usually share values and norms specific to a particular network, including models of language use. If a member is deeply integrated into the system, he or she would definitely adhere linguistically to such values of the specific network.
However, such language alterations often become widely known and eventually embedded into the communication patterns of others. The same applies to network societies that foster the process of both semantic and grammar change of languages involved in communication on the Web. According to Godwin (2019), dozens of terms and phrases are currently making their way into dictionaries, while others become widely adopted into spoken language. For example, such words as “emoji,” “lol,” “hashtag,” and “photobomb” can be easily heard by someone walking down the street. Furthermore, definitions of many words were transformed, and even some nouns are used as verbs. According to McCulloch (2019), internet writing is not a crude mixture of acronyms and emojis; it is rather a distinct genre that requires a profound awareness of the language to be successfully applied. This sociolinguist point emerged following the assessment of Tumblr punctuation that is famous for its own grammar norms. The most important task is to elicit an emotional response using the right words, signs, and acronyms. It is an essential skill that everyone should learn to enjoy a normal social life.
Internet and social network services have also changed the meaning of literacy and illiteracy. In the modern world, when still many people do not know how to write or read, the skills necessary to understand and write texts on the Web are of top priority (van Dijk, 2020). The ability to navigate the Internet with the help of a computer, smartphone, or other devices is coined as Web literacy. In developed countries, individuals who do not know how to use instant messenger or Facebook would probably be isolated both from economic and social lives. For instance, it is not easy to imagine modern business relations regarding services without social interactions based on the Internet. The majority of preliminary negotiations and deals take place on social websites. Thus, in the world of network societies, it is not enough to know how to read and speak in real life; it is also essential to be effective on the Web.
Users usually perceive the smartphone and Internet language as appropriate since it follows network-specific rules. For instance, the one who opts to abstain from using acronyms in his/her tweet may be perceived as a strange one. However, from the perspective of conventional rules of language, such words and texts can be characterized as a sign of illiteracy. In general, illiteracy is a lack of education that becomes evident when an individual cannot read, write, or count. In the modern world, this simple definition should include Web literacy that requires specific social skills. The knowledge people acquire from social practices is also important to direct their discourse to their own interests since group communication is based on shared beliefs.
Research Questions
As was earlier stated, the study’s main aim is to confirm or negate the idea that group beliefs determine the use of language on the Internet. Hence, the paper would answer a set of questions that emerged from its theses. How ideologies (beliefs) influence the behavior of the group according to network society theory? Does it exert an impact over language usage on various social networks? Are these alterations destructive, or do they contribute to the further development of language? What is the modern definition of illiteracy?
References
Godwin, R. (2019). How the Internet is changing language as we know it (ikr lol). The Guardian. Web.
McCulloch, G. (2019). Because Internet: Understanding how language is changing. Harvill Secker.
Pew Research Center. (2019). Mobile Fact Sheet. Web.
Stocker, R., & Bossomaier, T. (2014). Networks in Society: Links and Language. Jenny Stanford Publishing.
Van Dijk, J. (2020). The Network Society (3rd ed.). Sage Publishing