GAS. “Greetings and salutations” (or is it “Got a second?”) It could go either way. #AreYouConfused?

The language of social media is a universe of its own—a rapidly changing organism.

It’s a dialect of abbreviations, acronyms, emojis, emoticons, and haiku-like prose.

The internet is rife with cats and pudgy-fingered babies who can compose more dexterously and faster than I can.

Millennials seem to have been born with inherent talent in this arena #SocialMediaEvolution

The new device-oriented generation also has an umbilical cord to the internet. #StepAwayfromthePhoneandSeetheWorld

A smartphone is almost always in hand. Eyes down. Thumbs ablaze. Missing nothing in the text world. Missing many things elsewhere.

No one should text and drive. There are laws. But it’s also dangerous to ride a bike or walk while texting.

To address the scourge of mobile phone addicts, a few countries have set up experimental pedestrian texting lanes in city streets.

In theory, the texters then walk at their own risk and regular walkers have obstacle-free paths.

Textwalkers rarely find these lanes, however, because they’re too busy texting. #Oxymoron

The social media language is diverse and dynamic—across generations and across cultures. GAC

It’s challenging to understand the phrases that become just abbreviations in texting. 2M2H IOMH IWAWO

Once an abbreviation or acronym becomes too popular (e.g., when parents start using it), it is destined to change. #LOL

Even punctuation is changing. Periods are disappearing because they are no longer needed.

It’s obvious when an instant message has ended. It’s over. The end. Period. (Er . . . I mean . . . no period) Send.

According to a NY Times Article, when a period is used in a text, it means something different. It is a point of emphasis. #PunctuationWeapon.

OK. or Fine. rather than OK or Fine means Enough. Stop. Alrightalready. I have no more to say. It implies annoyance. #Snark

Perhaps to balance the demise of the period, overpunctuation has emerged for dramatic effect, as in “I had fun!!!!!!!!!!”

Visual additions now pepper texts and chats. Emoticons and emojis heighten the emotional impact of a message.

Emoticons are a creative use of type to show a facial expression. For example, a show of happiness: :) or :-) or (ˆ_ˆ)

Western emoticons are usually read with head tilted to the side. Asian emoticons are read horizontally: Winking face: ;) or (ˆ_~)

They come in a range of emotions and tones and can usually be added through a special character set on the device.

Since the language of social media has become a common one, I know I have to adjust to the new brevity of thought.

Yes, it’s difficult to bare one’s soul or wax poetic in a 140-character tweet or a text message that’s read in 5 seconds.

The challenge is to grab attention, to inspire, to stimulate, to provoke . . . to connect in this new world of text and tweet.

OIC. Oh, I see. It can be done. But I don’t want to forget how beautiful the other world can be.

Inspired by Jennifer Egan’s “Black Box,” fiction in tweets, originally published in the New Yorker.

GAC: Get a clue
2M2H: Too much to handle
IOMH: In over my head
IWAWO: I want a way out
LOL: Laughing out loud OR Lots of love

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

$\"Happy$

Emoji emotion
\u00a9 Tigatelu\/iStock<\/p><\/div>\n

The Language of Social Media<\/h2>\n

Who says a story can’t be told in 140-character tweets? Here’s a tweeted ode (a twode?) to a changing culture . . .<\/h4>\n
<\/p>\n
GAS. “Greetings and salutations” (or is it \u201cGot a second?\u201d) It could go either way.\u00a0#AreYouConfused?<\/p>\n
The language of social media is a universe of its own\u2014a rapidly changing organism.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a dialect of abbreviations, acronyms, emojis, emoticons, and haiku-like prose.<\/p>\n
$\"cat$
Even a cat can text faster than I can.
\u00a9 Leo Kostik\/iStock<\/p><\/div>\n
I am not a maestro of text or tweet.\u00a0#FullDisclosure<\/p>\n
The internet is rife\u00a0with\u00a0cats and pudgy-fingered babies who can compose more dexterously and faster than I can.<\/p>\n
I text with one finger, one hand. #TextWhileNoOneIsWatching<\/p>\n
Those smartphone keys are tiny. #OKforDonaldTrumpHands<\/p>\n
$\"Interior$
The new language of social media
\u00a9 Monkey Business Images\/iStock<\/p><\/div>\n
Millennials seem to have been born with inherent talent in this arena #SocialMediaEvolution<\/p>\n
The new device-oriented generation also has\u00a0an umbilical cord to the internet. #StepAwayfromthePhoneandSeetheWorld<\/p>\n
A\u00a0smartphone is almost always in hand. Eyes down. Thumbs ablaze. Missing nothing in the text world. Missing many things\u00a0elsewhere.<\/p>\n
A dangerously distracting language. #PleaseBeCareful<\/p>\n
No one should text and drive. There are laws. But it’s also\u00a0dangerous to ride a bike or walk while texting.<\/p>\n
$\"Businessman$
Please . . . no texting while riding
\u00a9 Shironosov\/iStock<\/p><\/div>\n
To address the scourge of mobile phone addicts, a few countries have set up experimental pedestrian texting lanes in city streets.<\/p>\n
In theory, the texters then walk at their own risk and regular walkers have obstacle-free paths.<\/p>\n
Textwalkers rarely find these lanes, however, because they\u2019re too busy texting. #Oxymoron<\/p>\n
$\"Text$
Texting lanes may become mandatory.
\u00a9 Stafano Visigor\/iStock<\/p><\/div>\n
The social media language is diverse and dynamic\u2014across generations and across cultures. GAC<\/p>\n
It\u2019s challenging to understand the phrases that become just abbreviations in texting.\u00a0 2M2H\u00a0 IOMH\u00a0 IWAWO<\/p>\n
Once an abbreviation or acronym becomes too popular (e.g., when parents start using it), it is destined to change. #LOL<\/p>\n
Even punctuation is changing. Periods are disappearing because they are no longer needed.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s obvious when an instant message has ended. It\u2019s over. The end. Period. (Er . . . I mean . . . no period) Send.<\/p>\n
According to a NY Times Article<\/a>, when a period is used in a text, it means something different. It is a point of emphasis. #PunctuationWeapon.<\/p>\n
OK. or Fine. rather than OK or Fine means Enough. Stop. Alrightalready. I have no more to say. It implies annoyance. #Snark<\/p>\n
$\"iPhone$
Fine.
\u00a9 Meredith Mullins<\/p><\/div>\n
Perhaps to balance the demise of the period, overpunctuation has emerged for dramatic effect, as in \u201cI had fun!!!!!!!!!!\u201d<\/p>\n
Visual additions now pepper texts and chats. Emoticons and emojis heighten the emotional impact of a message.<\/p>\n
Emoticons are a creative use of type to show a facial expression. For example, a show\u00a0of happiness: \u00a0<\/strong>:) or \u00a0:-) or \u00a0(\u02c6_\u02c6)<\/p>\n
The expressions can vary across cultures.<\/p>\n
Western emoticons are usually read with head tilted to the side. Asian emoticons are read horizontally: Winking face: \u00a0;) or (\u02c6_~)<\/p>\n
$\"Emoticons$
A Western (l) and Eastern (r) interpretation of a happy face
\u00a9 OIC Moments<\/p><\/div>\n
Emojis originated in Japan, where the word translates to pictographs.<\/em><\/p>\n
They come in a range of emotions and tones and can usually be added through a special character set on the device.<\/p>\n
$\"emojis$
Favorite emoji emotions
\u00a9 Meredith Mullins<\/p><\/div>\n
Since the language of social media has become a common one, I know I have to\u00a0adjust to the new brevity of thought.<\/p>\n
Yes, it’s difficult to bare one’s soul or wax poetic in a 140-character tweet or a text message that’s\u00a0read in 5\u00a0seconds.<\/p>\n
The challenge is to grab attention, to inspire, to stimulate, to provoke . . . to connect in this new world of text and tweet.<\/p>\n
OIC.\u00a0Oh, I see.<\/strong> It can be done. But I don’t want to\u00a0forget how beautiful the other world can be.<\/p>\n
$\"Emoticon$
You know there’s trouble when even an emoji is a text addict.
\u00a9 Yayayoyo\/iStock<\/p><\/div>\n
Inspired by Jennifer Egan’s “Black Box,”<\/a>\u00a0fiction in tweets, originally published in the New Yorker.<\/em><\/p>\n
An acronym key:<\/em><\/p>\n
GAC: Get a clue<\/em>
\n2M2H: Too much to handle \u00a0<\/em>
\nIOMH: In over my head \u00a0<\/em>
\nIWAWO: I want a way out
\n<\/em>LOL: Laughing out loud OR Lots of love<\/em><\/p>\n
Comment<\/a><\/i>\u00a0on this post below, or inspire insight with your own\u00a0OIC Moment\u00a0<\/em>here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":26637,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[102],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-language"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26640"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40782,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26640\/revisions\/40782"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}