Journal Week 1: Media Ecology - Social Media and Language

The Evolution of Social Media

One of my favorite forms of media to watch shape and evolve has been social media. The question of where it began is debated by a lot, but I think it depends on the individual's definition of social media and their age. For me, social media began in the early days of Instant Messaging which belonged to AOL, then was followed by other browsers such as MSN. 

I have always considered social media to be a form of personal branding, which is apparent in the AIM days with usernames that could be customized, profile icons that reflected a variety of interests, and away messages that could reflect anything from simple information ("BRB!") to feelings (*insert moody song lyrics here*). This branding expanded into the more mainstream sites like MySpace, LiveJournal, and Tumblr, but it had humble beginnings and simple goals such as connection.

https://www.future-marketing.co.uk/the-history-of-social-media/

Fast forward to today and social media has created entire industries and jobs. There are entire divisions within large companies that solely focus on social media strategy while others can use their own profiles from home to sell products and monetize their lifestyle. In its early days, Instagram was a vast space of food pictures and memes that had grainy filters and a simple scroll feed. It was a departure from the Facebook photo albums that allowed for the upload of hundreds of photos in a single album, all viewable by friends and the public. Somewhere along the way, it became a marketing tool for businesses, professionals, and eventually the individual. And like it goes with everything, whatever the adults have, kids will want too.

Even though rules exist (and laws in some states) that attempt to keep the average user on these apps over the age of 13, it is not always enforceable. Kids who are allowed to have a phone of their own will often download fun games, but as they enter the pre-teen years, those games are slowly replaced with social media apps which allow them to connect with friends as well as people all over the internet. 

Social Media and the secondary student

As an English teacher who has taught both literature and journalism to middle and high school students, I have seen my fair share of social media trends go in and out of the pre-teen and teen zeitgeist. They come on strong and die with fierce scrutiny, so one tries to stay as up to date as possible so they can stay "in the loop" with students. Your "cool" factor as an adult who is trying to teach grammar and writing is already on thin ice, so coming in even a day late on a trend can mean the end of favored teacher status. The most immediately noticeable trends are always rooted in spoken- and body language. For example, the advent of the "Dab" came from an emote in "Fortnight" and if you had been around a middle school boy at any point from 2016 - 2020, you would have been very familiar. It's sleek movement was used at sports events, in the lunchroom, and even in the classroom when getting an answer correct. 

For anyone who uses social media in any capacity, it is glaringly obvious that social media has had a strong impact on social language. As a teacher, we have the evidence right in our classrooms.

Here is a Ted Talk given by Linguist Adam Aleksic in April '24 - a mere year ago - that outlines just how impactful it has been:

Aleksic discusses the acquisition of language, like words that come from Latin or Greek, and explains that online terms such as "unalive" do not come from the same process. Instead, community guidelines that outline the removal of videos that mention words like "kill" or "die" have led users to use the term "unalive" instead, which has shown up in classrooms when students talk about death in the literature from their curriculum. In this way, social media has created a new form of language acquisition that is a new process to linguists.

He goes on to point out that language change is driven by groups who have a shared need to invent new words. This goes back to marginalized groups such as POC and LGBTQ inventing slang terms that then get appropriated by the general population where the term loses its original meaning, such as "cool" and "high-five" or "slay" and "serve."

There is also a social media trend that outlines various aesthetics and labels them as "-core" such as "cottage core" which romanticizes rural life, particularly characterized by the English countryside and includes activities like baking and glamorizes the look of floral patterns and cottage elements such as cluttered kitchens and crafting spots. 

All of these examples have made their way into the media ecology of the classroom. The medium relied on in the English classroom is spoken and written language, and the technology delivering it is often in the form of book or video. How has this social media landscape changed the way I, as a teacher, approach my classroom?

Aligning topics and standards with student interest can be a difficult thing to do when you are dealing with stories like "The Odyssey" or a Shakespearean play. The language within those pieces can often be isolating to students because not only do they not understand the individual words, they don't understand the context of various scenarios and can't make connections through context clues. The bigger themes and overarching story plots get lost on them, and they end up doing the bare minimum to get a semi-decent grade.

By connecting the language of the stories I teach to concepts that I can explain to them using language they are familiar with, I am able to open a door for them that allows them to explore the meanings behind the story and go on to make their own connections. At a secondary level, we want students in ELA making connections and explaining concepts and ideas of their own in their own words. Accessibility is a huge part of this, and using the social media landscape which includes languages and trends to help them navigate the difficult-to-understand aspects of these older literary pieces is the most effective way to provide that. This also helps my students set the expectation that I am willing to do my part in offering up these comparisons to them as long as they are willing to go forward and make their connections. 

As a millennial, I am always interested in learning about new programs and technologies that can be implemented in the classroom. As a teacher, my goal is to connect with my students in a way that encourages them to be proactive in their learning. With social media being such an active player in their lives, I say it is something that we work to embrace rather than try to combat.