Hey guys, welcome back to my blog. This semester I took a very interesting course ANTH 1300 People and Language. I learned so much about the study of languages and the way people use, interpret, and practice languages. One linguistic topic that I really wanted to focus on was the use of language in social media. Social media plays a major role in the way poeple in society engage in language. We use the internet to speak and express ourselves everyday, for example right now this blog post is just one way I use social media to practice language. As a result, billions upon billions of people are contantly using language in some way across the web every second. Thats how powerful this tool is in the study of languages.

There is a portal: We are pivoting to a digital storytelling and performance as pedagogy format.

There is a portal takes this to a whole new level in their creative expression and storytelling. The amount of language there is to learn about through social media is infinite. Also, online, everyone has the complete freedom to use whatever language practices they choose without nearly as much fear and potential criticism from the local language traditions in their environment.

The rise of TikTok has enabled our youth to use language in a much different way than seen before. Tiktok has allowed people to spread mass information in just short video clips. This is really great because we get videos such as the one disussed in Anne Charity Dudleys video on black languages. She shows a tiktok of a jamaican and nigerian woman comparing the prononciation of different words and laughing at their differences. The whole clip is very wholesome and shows how these two women of different african cultures are communicating with one another and appreciating eachothers language practices.

Anne Charity Hudley: you’ll hear some of the ways that the black diaspora language manifests in these speakers…how they communicate with each other and really understand the full sense of the Black language variety and culture.

This use of social media to show black language varieties is a perfect example of how people are given the power and voice to express themselves online in a way that is much different than in person. The voices of these two women were amplified to a greater audience around the glocbe who may not have even known about black language varieties.

Also, Twitter has an even greater impact on language with the use of tweets. Over time twitter has grown more popular and thus more powerful as a tool for language expression. Hashtags have really changed the game when it comes to raising awareness on certain subjects. For example the #BlackLivesMatter movement was trending not only on twitter but on every social media app. This brought awareness to the plight of black people in the United States and amplified their voices to be heard at a time when nobody was listening before.

Bonilla & Rose 2015: Twitter does not just allow you to peer through a window; it allows you to look through manifold windows at once.”

Actions like these ones taken on social media are absolutely life changing for our society. We are no longer concerned just about ourselves, our languages, and our voices but adapted to hearing other peoples voices around the world too. This leads to less prejudice against different races and languages since people become used to viewing all news and trends that do not relate to their own language and struggles.

That being said one struggle with social media as linguistic routine is identity. People may be more accustomed to listening and following people of their own language background more than others, therefore discrediting people of other backgrounds. This is a really negative effect of how language is consumed through social media. It is very important that people not just listen to others online but take into account who is speking and their background.

NPR Codeswitch: Different hosts with different voices tell different kinds of stories. And vocal styles communicate important dimensions of human experience.”

The main point here is that sometimes it is not enough to just here the stories of others online but here it from the right people. This is the proper way to understand the plight of others and really learn about their language and how it is apart of their identity. Hearing stories from those have the language knowledge to communicate in the way their language wants it to be understood makes it much more informative.

Another point that is important to discuss is how people may speak differently online than they do in person. The reason for this is because on social media, you have the power to be whoever you want and represent yourself in whichever way you choose.

3 ways to Speak English Cause I speak three tongues, one for each: Home, School, and friends.

In this video, the speaker touches on the different environments in which her language changes depending on where she is or who she is speaking with. We can even add to her statement and say we speak four tongues, one for home, school, friends, and social media.

Finally, one of the most powerful ways in which social media impacts our language and how we engage in language through social media, is through through the power of anonymity. Online people have the adbility to detach themselves from their own language and be someone else entirely. People can say and be whoever they choose and therefore speak in whichever way they choose. Using language in this way further allows us to see language as this invention and dynamic tool for us to create and invent ourselves with our language as well

Makoni, S. & Pennycook: The advantage of the term ‘invention’ is that it points to specific contexts—as well as the specific agendas and conceptual beliefs—in which institutions, structures, language and languages are produced, regulated and constituted.

Overall, I hope this discussion helped you understand how incredibly large a role social media plays in our understanding of language and culture. I really enjoyed taking this anthropolgy course and understanding how social media and technology go hand in hand with everything now because social media really does influence everything, our thoughts, our actions, and of course, our understanding of language.