Blogs have a specific target audience and this is then reflected in the content that is posted and the formatting. Take hellogiggles.com, a blog targeted specifically at women with the aim to make them smile (note: they specifically say that men are welcome as well). This means that the content is very much aimed at women, who are in their twenties onwards. Common features include beauty, fashion, crafts and news stories that specifically relate to women. The graphology is also very feminine, with pale pinks and blues used and purple text. The language is also fairly relaxed and occasionally there is a bout of text-speak, such as "OMG". This gives the blog and informal vibe and encourages readers that this is a friendly place where people can be themselves. The adverts featured are also aimed at women- adverts for underwear and room spray that smells of flowers. The blog is also very interactive- taking comments from readers and also encouraging them to submit their own articles, pictures and videos.
The purpose of blogs is usually to entertain, however there are a smattering of blogs that aim to educate. For example, I came across a very serious blog about what sort of cheese went with what sort of wine. It may have been an ironic array of white, yellow and oranges cheeses matched with various wines with obscure labelling, but you couldn't help but get the impression that the author was extremely preoccupied with the importance of a good cheese/wine combo. The language used in this blog was very formal, with limited contractions. The background of the blog was black, with white and grey text. The only colour came from the high-quality pictures of cheese and wine.
Monday, 18 November 2013
Is texting killing the English language?
Short answer, no. Texting is not the only form of communication that uses abbreviations- we do this when we speak- I don't know anyone that says "I am taking my Budgerigar to the veterinarians today." We say "I'm taking my Budgie to the vet's today." Text speak, as long as it is confined to digital communications is fine. It's only a problem when it infiltrates our written language- I can't imagine some of the most famous pieces of literature filled with 2s and RUs. In modern literature- let's take the Harry Potter books- were they filled with abbreviations only relatable to the most seasoned texter? No, they weren't. They were properly written with, you know, real words and sentence structures.
The removal of the hyphen really isn't the end of the world. It is not the end of the English language as we know it. The purpose of a hyphen is to link two words together to create a new word, but surely the - between two words shows that they are not one word at all. Simply linking the two words together, for example potbelly over pot-belly, shows that the two words are now one word and also adds to the overall cohesion of a text. And, anyway, hyphens make sentences ugly.
It's also not fair to blame the younger generation- in my experience the older generation has embraced shorthand in texts more than my generation. An example text conversation with my mum:
Mum: "wen will U B home"
Me: "About half 7 I think."
Mum: "hve U had T"
Me: Yeah, I have thanks."
Anyway, who's to say that text speak isn't the next stage in the evolution of our communication? We don't use hieroglyphics anymore, or paint images on cave walls, or carve delicate images on clay pots showing the sacrifice of a sheep to a god. As technology develops, we are finding quicker and easier means to communicate with each other. Re-working the English language to suit a range of diverse needs only becomes a problem when the English language is unrecognisable. But even then, the way we speak now isn't the way Shakespeare spoke, so could these new developments in spoken, written and technological language simply be the Next Stage? With advancing technology, who knows, maybe there will be a holographic message service, so we can beam images of ourselves to each other. And with all this new technology, aren't there bigger things we should be worrying about, say... nuclear weapons?
The removal of the hyphen really isn't the end of the world. It is not the end of the English language as we know it. The purpose of a hyphen is to link two words together to create a new word, but surely the - between two words shows that they are not one word at all. Simply linking the two words together, for example potbelly over pot-belly, shows that the two words are now one word and also adds to the overall cohesion of a text. And, anyway, hyphens make sentences ugly.
It's also not fair to blame the younger generation- in my experience the older generation has embraced shorthand in texts more than my generation. An example text conversation with my mum:
Mum: "wen will U B home"
Me: "About half 7 I think."
Mum: "hve U had T"
Me: Yeah, I have thanks."
Anyway, who's to say that text speak isn't the next stage in the evolution of our communication? We don't use hieroglyphics anymore, or paint images on cave walls, or carve delicate images on clay pots showing the sacrifice of a sheep to a god. As technology develops, we are finding quicker and easier means to communicate with each other. Re-working the English language to suit a range of diverse needs only becomes a problem when the English language is unrecognisable. But even then, the way we speak now isn't the way Shakespeare spoke, so could these new developments in spoken, written and technological language simply be the Next Stage? With advancing technology, who knows, maybe there will be a holographic message service, so we can beam images of ourselves to each other. And with all this new technology, aren't there bigger things we should be worrying about, say... nuclear weapons?
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