Technology and language change

In a nutshell

Technology's impact on the creation, dissemination, interchange and consumption of texts in the 20th and 21st centuries has simultaneously increased and decreased people's language options.  In this summary, the role of technology in language change will be explored.

Does language constrain technology or is it the other way around?

Both language and digital media are limited by the other. Users shape digital media according to what it affords and what it constrains. For example, the well-known SMS was born when the first mobile phones were created and it afforded the possibility of communicating via chat. However, those messages were constrained by the size of the small screen, a tedious 'T9' keyboard and the potential cost of longer messages.

The Urban Dictionary

Several critics decry the way digital texts influence the development of English, claiming that traditional standards of the language are in decline. Observing language change throughout time in this way is called diachronic language change, and prescriptivists since the early grammarians of the 18th century have decried the perceived decline of language. From a descriptivist point of view, we observe that numerous terms have emerged as a result of a technological boost and that they have become part of everyday spoken and written language. 

An online dictionary was therefore created to record this emerging lexicon of the internet: The Urban Dictionary. The Urban Dictionary is not updated by lexicographers (as is traditionally the case). All users are free to bring their linguistic insights to it. There can be many definitions for a single word and it is full of neologisms. The expression 'LOL' is a good example of one such neologism. It emerged in digital media and has evolved over time. These are the definitions The Urban Dictionary provides: 

Example 1

'LOL' used to stand for 'lots of laughs' and was used when chatting with friends to say that something was funny:

A: Waiter! There is a mosquito in my salad! And what do you expect for this price? A bird?

B: Lol!!! Hilarious!

Example 2

The meaning of 'LOL' has changed a little. If something is funny, you text 'LMFAO' or 'LMAO'. Otherwise, 'LOL'  is just a discourse marker that serves to move the conversation along: 

A: omfg, my mum isn't letting me go to your party!

B: lol... i'll miss u :(

Example 3

'LOL' is also used as a filler to avoid saying what you really think of the other person and make you look polite. It is also useful if you do not want to show any emotion, but rather a neutral mood. This version of 'LOL' is often repeated throughout the conversation:

A: Hey! Lol. How are you?

B: Fine. Lol You?

A: Same lol