Internet Slang Influence On The English Language

With the internet garnering more than three billion users in an extraordinarily short period of time, there is no doubt that it has greatly influenced everyday life. One of the biggest influences the internet has on our daily lives is the establishment of an entire set of new vocabulary- “internet slang”, as well as allowing us to convey emotions through symbols (emojis). Almost everyone in the modern world knows the meaning of the term “omg”, “wtf”, or “lol”. Does this shift in vocabulary from more traditional English to seemingly silly acronyms mark the start of a new era of downfall for the English language, or is the issue of internet slang overblown into exaggerative proportions? It seems that the answer to this question varies a lot

Reading old works of English writers such as Shakespeare, one sees that the vocabulary and structure are very different than that of modern English. Language seems to adapt to the environment around it in a way analogous to how organisms adapt to their environment through evolution. This can be clearly seen through history. The word “terrorism” for instance, was unused until 1793, when the French government practiced state terrorism in the infamous Reign of Terror (Harper). Internet slang is thus merely a part of the evolution of the English language in order to fit with the present environment. Even with the dominance of internet slang in daily conversation, “the influence of technology like SMS and Facebook on the English language is often overstated” (Knibbs). Moreover, any enemies of internet slag often forget that the “internet has only been around for some 20 years, which is no time at all,” says renowned linguist Professor David Crystal, “it takes a lot longer for permanent or significant language change to operate.” Therefore, it is meaningless to even try to predict what would happen in the future, whether that means internet slag would change the English language or not. Even if the influence of the internet on the English language continues, such things do not seriously affect a language in the short term. They simply “add new styles, and extend the

This new form of communication, which utilizes symbols such as ‘’ and ‘’ to convey the writers emotions, has allowed for a new method of human expression. Whether it is a smiley face symbol or a sad face symbol, emojis instill in us a deep sense of emotion. The personification of graphic symbols instigates a sense of humanity in what was once a lifeless, meaningless combination of letters. Perhaps the most lacking part when it comes to emojis in comparison to its cousin, internet slang, is its restrictive nature. This is largely due to the fact that on a given internet platform, such as a chat room, the emojis available are ones that were created by the makers of the platform and not the users themselves. On the other hand, internet slang is almost entirely user-made, which allows for versatility and diversity. The limits that English letters have in ‘drawing’ shapes and faces is not found when assembling the acronyms or making up the words found in internet slang. This restrictiveness can be seen when discussing emojis’ depiction of diversity as illustrated by Apple’s iOS platform, which has “many white faces, but only two Asian, and none Black” (Crawford). Despite the obvious limitations, emojis, especially the commonly used smiley face and sad face, continue to be immensely popular in online communities,