Social media is changing the way language is used. Some argue it is ruining language with excessive abbreviations and emoticons, while others believe it is simply changing how language is used to express ourselves. New language phenomena on social media include using punctuation marks like periods to show emotion rather than just ending sentences, and using question marks and ellipses to soften messages and encourage responses rather than solely for their traditional uses. In the future, communication may increasingly rely on images without text, as platforms like Instagram demonstrate how images can briefly deliver messages or convey mood.

1. Language of
social media

3. We all are recipients of different types
of social media. We watch
television, we read newspapers,
we listen to the radio and finally-
we use the Internet. We can
observe how the language of these
media changes. But is it a good
change? We think not and we want
to prove that it doesn’t have to be
like this.
Introduction

4. First thing we would like to refer to is savoir
vivre. It is an enormous number of rules
which specify how a person should
behave. It connects with every domain of
social life such as communication and
language.
Savoir vivre

6. • you should look in your interlocutor eyes,
• you shouldn’t interrupt,
• you should be gentle,
• you shouldn’t let your emotions control
you,
• your words shouldn’t be a speech of hate,
• you shouldn’t offend anyone.
Basic rules

8. How is social media
changing language usage?

10. Some people say social media is killing our
language. Their arguments are innumerable,
but they mostly cite the excessive usage of
undecipherable initialisms, incorrect
abbreviations, and cutesy emoticons.
Others believe that social media
is not ruining language, but rather
simply changing the ways in which
we use the language to express ourselves.

11. The presentation of the linguist John McWhorter
refers to the familiar love-hate relationship that
people have with the usage of "LOL" (laugh out
loud), "uh," "um," "like," and "you know", which
are now markers for empathy and
accommodation. They’re "pragmatic
particles" - words or phrases that
are not connected semantically to
the context of the sentence, but rather
indicate the speaker’s attitude.

13. Another new language phenomenon is the
discreet usage of a full stop. Rather than just
signifying the end of a thought
or replacing missing letters,
a period is now showing
anger and aggression. (e.g.
"Worst. Breakfast. Ever."
or "Best. Party. In. History.")

14. Other punctuation mark usage is changing, too.
A question mark no longer shows inquisition, but
is now often used to soften too assertive or self-
serving messages. And who could forget about
ellipsis? Once used to indicate an omission of a
word or sentence, ellipses now help to keep a
conversation open and light, and encourage the
other person to respond.

16. How will social media continue to change our
language? According to The New York Times,
we will begin communicating via images only,
without including text. This is already
happening to a large extent, and makes
sense based on the popularity of Instagram,
Tumblr, etc. Images briefly deliver a message
or express the person's mood.