SOCIAL LANGUAGE: The End Of The Great Divide?

Social Language:The body of words, systems, terms, symbols, gestures, phrases and tools used to communicate thought, emotion and meaning in the on line world and community.

Language.

Yesterday I posted a statement on FaceBook, "Brand is just the gut feeling others have about your business."  A few minutes later my sister who is a few years younger than me clicked thumbs up, she liked my status update A few hours later my 20 year old daughter, Rosie posted her thoughts and albeit she was three states away in her dorm room at Denver University, make no doubt...

I heard her loud and clear."BRANDING IS STUPID!" her response roared.

Language it's extremely social these days...

Language

The words and systems a common generation, culture, community or geography uses to communicate thought, feelings. Language gives meaning and understanding to life.

As technology races ahead I find to my great pleasure I'm finally becoming bi-lingual. I'm transitioning from my very narrow and somewhat limiting mono-lingual existence to a new multi-lingual lifestyle.

You see, WORDS really ARE CUlTURE. They create culture. And amidst a world flush with tools to  communicate, engage and connect  with I find myself an English speaking, social language student. I'm not at all fluent but I am iintrigued by the opportunity that this engaging language offers you and I.

And the best part about being a SOCIAL LANGUAGE student is that this language does not  HAVE to divide or exclude others. By it's very nature, SOCIAL LANGUAGE connects, engages and  joins. Social language is an agent of GOOD, a builder of community, collaboration, impervious to the limits and boundaries that are intrinsic to language itself. 

I mean who knew what a URL was fifteen years ago and what about X-Box, FaceBook, status updates, profiles, search engines, SEO, tweet, Youtube, networks, updates, meta tags, H1- headers, #; hash tags, buzz, google, LBS, text, email, ( I still think of the LDS church whenever people say LBS)

Social Language; the language of community.

Don't get me wrong I don't view technology, the advances of mobile and the web as the second coming. I'm not so naive to believe that without human will any real good is possible. I'm just wondering, ruminating here (my son just walked by and said I looked like a mad scientist?) do we in fact have the tools, are we living in the age of possibility? Could we in fact heal what ails human kind; what divides, disconnects, separates us from one another?

And yes, it will take much more than just SOCIAL language, but the possibilities of a united world community....

I remember the Dali Lamai speaking about what might happen if all the world leaders were to take annual vacations together. Could you imagine if every world leader became friends with every other world leader, if enemies played with each other's children in the swimming pool, cooked dinner with each other's spouses, listened to each other over casual drinks? The Dalai Lama's point was that if world leaders knew each other, became friends the next time a nation considered sending a bomb, stealing assets, looking  the other way in the face of  disaster, exploitation, abuse or injustice; things might just be different. Because knowing changes everything. Doesn't it?

Social language, a way for us to know community, to engage on line, across cultural, geographical, traditional and generational boundaries....could just be the end of the great divide...

The question is do we have the will?

Pam Hoelzle

The Great Divide Waterfall, originally uploaded by one42chrisp.

Comments

[Jeris JC Miller @dakini_3]

It is clear that the new lands of exploration are the interwebs with Social Media as the new Gold Rush -- Facebook is now the 4th largest continent on the planet. And it stands to reason that these new lands would have their own linguistics, mores and social codes. Pam raises an important point. The longer one "foot drags" in adopting the "basic grammatical syntax" of the new emerging Social Media languages, the harder it will become to speak the new languages fluently. Adopt or Perish! And BTW - How is your Chinese?

[LeannU]

Great post Pam! Language defines us into groups and subgroups. When was the last time you were at a gathering where people talking about a subject you knew very little or nothing about? They use words and terminology appropriate for the topic as well as acronyms and inside jokes. The words we use can create inclusion or exclusion. Social media is creating the Social Language. As more and more people adopt the language, barriers come down and understanding increases. Those who know me have heard me say, that social media is creating an important and worldwide shift. Social language is pivotal in creating a common playground for interaction.

[Paul McFadden]

Pam: Interesting post. The mad scientist part is true! I look forward to meeting Zachary some day! Although we're learning new social languages all the time, they will never replace the human element in my opinion. We all crave to connect IRL as LeeAnn indicated. Thanks again. Keep up the great and noble work!

[Pam Hoelzle]

Leann

I am just starting to awaken to how this 'social language' might be the language to help us overcome all that has divided us...A language to bring all other languages together; cultures, outlooks, opinions,....
I like this line of yours " Social language is pivotal in creating a common playground for interaction."

Perhaps it's pivotal to a world community??

[Jeris JC Miller @dakini_3]

Frankly I am seeing the social web especially as one big neural-synaptic structure. Especially with it's Twitteresque rapid firings! This is why I am so focused on the HEART of these connective firings -- what exactly are we choosing to nurture and grow?!! But then in this crew - I am preaching to the choir! I HEART you all!!! J

[Pam Hoelzle]

I love your neuroscience background! I am going to the library tomorrow to get those books- I loved Evolve Your Brain...now to learn more. Yes without the emotional connection all this firing is not "wiring" behavior - right!! And change comes from actions- behavior so the heart of the language- the soul of the language will be determined by how literate we become at being intelligible to heads, hearts and it will show up with hands and feet- taking action!