but before we do so, let's talk about some evolution of mobile devices.
Watch This To Have Some Idea
The Evolution Of Mobile Phones
The first mobile phone that was introduced to the public back in 1983 by Motorola Company which used analog technology that was much less reliable than the digital technology we used today. They were very large in size and were very inconvenient. However, after a more than 30 years evolution process, the mobile phone today which had took over the whole society are completely different. The purpose of a mobile device, from simply calling and connected with people, has been extended to much more function including messages, social life, educational purpose and entertainments.
The average time consumption on mobile device for an adult is around 3 hours a day, according to a survey done by BI Intelligence on Flurry data.
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| The Average Time Spend On Mobile Devices |
According to a record from the famous mobile apps "WhatsApp", this app now has more than 430 million monthly users and sees more than 50 billion messages cross its servers each day. Under this circumstances, a new language, or so call "Internet Slang" is born.
Rather than using proper English, people on the internet, mostly the teenagers, prefer to use internet slang. What is an Internet slang? It refers to a variety of slang languages used by different people on Internet. It is difficult to provide a standardized definition of Internet Slang due to the constant changes made to its nature.
Watch this " How to Speak Internet "
Why is this internet slang being used? It is because using abbreviations and acronyms to communicate and chat with others helps those who are familiar and good with technology to chat faster while saving times. Due to the constant feed of media, news, and technology to keep up with daily, those who are familiar with internet slang are capable of easily multitasking without taking too much time to send a formal letter, email, message, or chat reply.
These are some of the example of Internet Slang:
- OOTD : Outfit Of The Day
- POTD : Picture Of The Day
- WOLO : We Only Live Once
- YOLO : You Only Live Once
- OOH : Out Of Here
- GEEZ : Jesus
- AIUI : As I Understand It
- HCIT : How Cool Is That
- NBTW : Now Back To Work
- IMMD : It Made My Day
- 4EVA : Forever
- ONNA : Oh No, Not Again
- YUM : Said when something tastes good or is attractive
- WUWU : What's Up With You?
- <4 : More than love (<3)
- BBAM : Be Back After Meal
- WAY : Where Are You?
- HDYDT : How Do You Do That?
- IDK : I Don't Know
- OMGD : Oh My God Dude
Why is it important to understand internet slang today? If you are a parent or even your working environment is technology related industry, understanding internet slang is essential to keep up with modern times in society and methods of communication. Understanding more about internet slang is a way to know whether or not your child may be receiving threats or even using inappropriate languages themselves. As a university student, a certain level of internet slang usage is unavoidable, but still we need to manage our grammar and only using it for informal purposes.
Learning Internet Slang is like a self-advancing process, technology evolution is a one direction flow, you can't against the flow, but only keep it up whatever you can.
References:
Gantt, C. (2014, January 20). WhatsApp sees 50 billion messages per day, more than all SMS combined.
Retrieved from TweakTown.com:
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/34968/whatsapp-sees-50-billion-messages-per-day-more-than-all-sms-combined/index.html
InternetSlang.com. (n.d.). Trending Web Abbreviations. Retrieved from InternetSlang.com:
http://www.internetslang.com/trending.asp
Khalaf, S. (2014, November 18). Flurry from Yahoo. Retrieved from Mobile to Television: We
interrupt this broadcast (Again): http://www.flurry.com/blog/flurry-insights/mobile-television-we-interrupt-broadcast-again#.VR0hltKUfcT
NoBullying.com. (2014, September 27). Understand Internet Slang Today. Retrieved from NoBullying.com:
http://nobullying.com/internet-slang/
By using internet slang we have to make sure other people would understand what the meaning of message that we send. Hence, people tend to use texting shorthand and it is just like we learn something new through technologies arrivals. For instance, ‘BTW’ is texting shorthand which is standing for ‘by the way’ means. While I agree that internet slang is much easier and fun to use, but we still have to think systematically that people should do their best to write sentences correctly. Why? This is because not all people could understand its meaning. So we should make sure the meaning is clear and the other person reading in fully understanding.
ReplyDeleteInternet slang also refers to cyber-slang, internet shorthand and also net speak. There are a lot of arguments and debates about this new born language. In the perspective of the scholars, the usage of correct grammar, correct spelling and correct structure of the sentences are very important in protecting a language that was handed down by the ancestors for centuries. Language is a cultural heritage for everyone and hence, teenagers were always encouraged to use proper languages when communicate online. However, agree with the author, that Internet slang is unavoidable. It has become a popular culture in our society. Not only English has Internet slang, Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese have it as well. On the bright side, it enhances relationships with the family and friends. Why do I say so? This is because Internet slang creates more fun and more interesting ways for expression during an online conversation. Online communication becomes less boring with the available of Internet slang. In addition, emojis and emoticons in mobile chat applications such as LINE, WhatsApp and WEChat play a same role as Internet slang as well. I personally like to use Internet slang and emojis when I keep in touch with family members and friends. It makes my relationships closer and happier. Even my parents are learning to use Internet slang and emoji to narrow down the generation gap with the children. Hence, in my opinion, it is good to protect our languages and at the same time, allow the new language to exist in this world of technology.
ReplyDeleteInternet slang ini bukalah satu fenomena baru dalam dunia komunikasi. Ia merupakan singkatan bahasa yang sering digunakan oleh golongan muda mengikut dialek bahasa yang digunakan. Fenomena ini menjadi suatu yang sangat popular dalam budaya masyarakat kita. Dengan menggunakan internet slang ini kita dapat menjimatkan masa dan tidak perlu menaip perkataan yang panjang. Internet slang ini juga sangat menarik dan kelihatan lawak apabila dibaca
ReplyDeleteSpeaking internet is so common these days that sometimes people forgot how to write that right ones! As said by Choo in his post, that living in this modern era, every trend changes with time including language. Those pretty common words that I often use is OOTD (outfit of the day), LOL (Laugh out loud), BRB (be right back), MIA (Missing in action) and IDK (I don't know). To me, I thought that it is understandable and LOL had replaced the expression of laughing.
ReplyDeleteOnce my friend asked me, “What is IDK?” and I answered, “I don't know”. Then he said that if I don't know the meaning, why did I use it at the first place? I stared at him blankly, couldn't get what he meant at first. Then I started laughing and explained to him that it means “I don't know”. It somehow creates misunderstanding at times.
However looking at the bad side, the older generations especially, this language trend seemed to be a problem for communication. Most of them do not get the meaning of “Internet language” and the style of using short form writing in messages. Though new media is a very good platform to connect people from all generations and places, it can cause miscommunication as well.
Similar as what Mei Sann has voiced out, the internet slag has somehow diminished the quality of proper English. I was once, in my 15, I experienced this situation where it is after the long school break in the end of the year. When the schools start, I found that I was unable to complete my sentences, written in English, properly where all words used are English in internet slang. Until there was this once when I was assigned to write an English essay, I'd ended up completing the essay with all short forms as the consequence of surfing and chatting online throughout the entire holiday.
ReplyDeleteIf internet slang is being used regularly with users' low level of self-control, the quality of proper English, especially in Malaysia which Malay language as mother language of the nation, will soon be badly affected.
Yes. Similar with what Chan HooiSin mentioned above, emojis and emoticons in mobile chat applications such as LINE, WhatsApp and WEChat play a same role as Internet slang as well. It looks more interesting and fun when chatting with friends or family by using emoji and emoticons. Do you guys notice that emoticon or moving cartoon in WeChat actually can help those people who are illiterate to voice out their feeling?
ReplyDeleteI have this kind of experience with my cousin and aunty. My aunty who is from Vietnam does not understand the written form of English or Chinese as well but she only can listen and speak in Mandarin. She is in our family group chat which included all my cousins who aged from 11 until 28 years old. We always reply with each other in written form. On the other hand, she uses moving cartoons or emoticons to reply us while we try to speak with her by using voice note. Sometimes, I used to send emoticons in the group chat. It is more convenient than type out the sentences and the symbols of emoticons can be easier to understand.