SHORT INFORMATION

1. DEMAND CURVE

2. INTERNET
Introduced in the 1960s, the Internet
became widely accessible by the1990
s. Over the years, many Internet-
related words entered mainstreamus
age, but given the pace of change, so
me terms gradually fell out of favor.

3. Some new terms that at first seemed aptly
modern quickly turned out to beinadequate
to encompass what the Internet rapidly beca
me. For example,in the late 1970s and early
1980s, the metaphor information superhigh
waywas popularized by former Vice Presiden
t Al Gore to help people visualizehow the Int
ernet could become a part of their everyday
lives. But as theInternet became ubiquitous,
this metaphor, along with the related termin
fobahn (modeled on autobahn), was forsake
n by those who took thebenefits of the Inter
net as a given. Now the term information su
perhighwayis generally considered outmode
d and often used humorously

4. Internet itself is a term people can di
sagree on. It was originally spelled wi
than initial capital letter, and while th
is spelling is still more common,espec
ially in formal writing, the lowercase
variant internet has been steadilyrisin
g in popularity since the mid-1990s.

5. Netizen, a term used to describe people wh
o avidly use the Internet, hasbecome less rel
evant as more people gain online access. (H
owever, in somecountries in which the Inter
net is restricted or controlled by the govern
ment,the term netizen remains relevant bec
ause it connotes unfettered onlineaccess.) In
contrast, the newer term digital citizen has
grown in use amidconcerns that more peopl
e, especially young people, need to learn ho
w tosafely and effectively navigate the Inter
net. The term netiquette, or therules of etiq
uette for communicating online, has also de
clined in use—

6. The colorful term cyberspace, coined by sci-
fi author William Gibson in theearly 1980s, p
eaked around the year 2000, but has decline
d since.However, the prefix cyber-
has proven to be not only relevant butlingui
stically productive. The terms cybercrime, cy
berterrorism,cyberbullying, and cyberstalkin
g, for example, have surged in use as people
have become increasingly concerned about
online security and the personaland social o
utcomes of an interconnected online world

7. In the 1990s, you might have surfed the Web, b
ut today you’re more likelyto see the verbs bro
wse or search in this context. Similarly, you now
look upsomething on the Internet or you simply
go online. The expression WorldWide Web over
the years has become truncated to the easier-
to-
say Web.Hyperlink, though still in use, has been
overtaken by its shortened version,link. An insta
nt message is more often referred to simply as a
n IM. In mostInternet contexts, the adjective ele
ctronic has been shortened to the prefixe-
. So electronic mail has become email (originally
e-mail), and otherpopular compounds like e-
learning, e-wallet, e-signature, and e-
commercehave followed suit.

8. It is not uncommon for tech-
savvy people to playfully use old-fashioned-
sounding terms or awkward sentences to co
mically contrast with theiractual technologic
al competence; for example, replacing for th
e sake ofhumor the simple suggestion to “lo
ok it up online” with “ask the Interweb.”The
y also may indulge in facetious grammatical
errors—like “I has ahotdog”—
and conspicuous misspellings—

9. like “teh lolz kitteh” for “the funnycat.” Popu
lar Internet memes can take this playfulness
further; forexample, LOLcat and doge (an int
entional misspelling of dog), in whichanimal
photos are paired with their imagined, usual
ly humorous thoughts.
It’s impossible to know exactly where these
trends in Internet-
relatedlanguage will go next. However, we c
an feel confident that as the Internetgrows a
nd morphs, so too will the language we use t
o describe it.