Naturally, our experience of the internet heavily influences our perception of its effect on the world. But what of that experience? How do we quantify it? How do we describe it to others?
In•ter•net
an international computer network providing e-mail and information from computers in educational institutions, government agencies, and industry, accessible to the general public via modem links. (Oxford English Dictionary)
There are many things which make up the internet which are not covered by traditional definitions. It has its own culture, as demonstrated in the above video where the culture and the language of the internet was described as being social, fun, commercial, an environment, educational, a subculture, efficient, boundless, and meaningful.
On the surface, there are the phrases and words which come from exploitable memes. They filter out into mainstream society, and suddenly everyone is saying “cool story, bro”!
But there are also the nuances of smaller communities, as we begin to form unique dialects in our individual social groups. We adopt esoteric terms, which are burrowed away in the crevices of the already largely esoteric internet. And this vernacular becomes a secret handshake throughout the web — a test to see if like-minded users are out there.
Unlike the inside jokes we create amongst friends, its a language without geography, and with infinite reach. It doesn’t require you knowing the person you talk to. And quite often, this language has viral potential. So words which didn’t exist yesterday can suddenly go global, even if it’s for all of twenty minutes as a Twitter trending topic. Or all of twenty weeks. Freaking Beliebers.
Then again, it might just be that you’re just a Facebooker. Funny how ubiquitous that term has become.
