Effects of Social Networking Sites on English Usage and Grammar
In this present generation, majority of us, either young or old,
use social networking sites almost every day as pastimes and communicating tools.
I think we are all aware that these sites really affect people’s English usage
and grammar. These are where jejemons,
bekimons, conyos, and other unknown language users originate from.
In my daily use of these sites, I observe that users of social
networking sites, including me, are fond of using the “chat language”. This wrong
usage of the English language on these sites affects most of the people’s
spelling and grammar, and worse, way of talking as well. We think that the languages
used by other people on these sites are correct, that is why, we unconsciously use
them also.
We use abbreviations, acronyms, word or language
combinations, and emoticons.
Another thing I notice is that we tend not to use apostrophes, punctuation
marks, and capitalization.
The improper uses of the words your
and you’re, its and it’s, and their and there are also dominant grammar mistakes online.
Moreover, the use of advance
happy birthday instead of happy
birthday in advance is also one of the things I encounter the most.
I agree on what a journalist once said, “Social networking has had a huge impact on the way people
write, and it has all been negative.” But I am not saying that we
must stop using social networking sites. (The whole world will hate me if I say
so.) What we shall do is stop being in “vogue”. I know not one of us
wants to be a laughing-stock, so, we shall, every time and everywhere, use
Standard English. This will surely help us not to get humiliated by other
people and likewise, to ourselves.
(images from www.google.com)
I definitely agree on this. Way back in high school, I misspelled words because I was used to shortcut those for convenience. As a result, I got a low grade in our journal. And thank you for the "emoticons" thing, I usually use those. I think I should stop that.
ReplyDeleteWe have the same problems, Anna. I used to shorten words. I think we can use emoticons on social networking sites but not on journals on school and any other formal writings.
DeleteI think that on the second paragraph you used a lot of commas which confused me a little. I suggest that you use it sparingly and mix it with a semicolon and dash to divide your thoughts equally. Meanwhile, the context of your blog is excellent except for the emoticons because I think it is a tool to clearly express our feelings that most of the time cannot be shown through words.
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DeleteThank you for your suggestion, Carlo! What I mean about the emoticons is the effect of always using them on social networking sites. Because we are used of using them, we also sometimes tend to use them on journals on school and any other formal writings.
DeleteThe "advance happy birthday!" section got my attention! I see a lot of those whenever it's someone's birthday.
ReplyDeleteI also see a lot of those, Trisha. Honestly, I used to greet such. But when I read about an article explaining about it, I stopped using "advance happy birthday."
DeleteThe topic for this blog is perfect for today's generation because it clearly addresses how fluency of the English language is deteriorating because of the steadfast development of technology. I also liked the way you used the pictures to support your idea.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Louie!
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ReplyDelete"(The whole world will hate me if I say so.)" I think making side comments is not really necessary when you are writing :) I can totally relate to this. Sometimes I tend to forget my grammar because of that "chat language".
ReplyDeleteI think this blog is not that formal, so, we can have side comments. Though I am not sure about that. But I will take your advice to be sure. Thank you, Lei!
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Carlo. Using a lot of commas can confuse readers, and in effect they might not grasp what you're trying to convey. Also, I really find the flow of the whole entry commendable.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment, Lawrence! I will take your advice about using semicolons and dashes instead of commas.
DeleteThe title must support your article. Meaning, there should be both positive and negative effects; what I noticed is that the whole article is all about the negative effects of social networking sites on English usage and grammar.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think my title should be "Negative Effects of Social Networking Sites on English Usage and Grammar". Thanks!
Delete"I agree on what a journalist once said, “Social networking has had a huge impact on the way people write, and it has all been negative.” But I am not saying that we must stop using social networking sites." I think beginning the second sentence with the conjunction "but" is not a good idea. It would be better to connect the sentences with a "comma" and "but". I also suggest that you check your punctuation within the sentences. You used a lot of commas on the second and the last paragraphs.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you. We should stop this bad usage of grammar.
Thanks for your suggestions about the use of conjunctions and punctuation marks, Lyka!
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Delete"I know that not one of us wants to be a laughing-stock" instead of using "not one of us" , i think you should have used the pronoun "nobody."
ReplyDeleteI should thank you for this entry. I have to admit that I am one of those people who use "advance happy birthday" instead of "happy birthday in advance." I also love how you kept the entry interesting by making use of pictures.
Thank you for your suggestion, Angel! I am also used of saying "advance happy birthday" back then. Thanks to the article I have read about months ago.
DeleteI agree on your Blog Nicole. Most of us are now accepting those wrong usage of English language and sometimes they even imitate that. For example, they are using "Why you mad?" instead of "Why are you mad?" Using abbreviations are making us poor in spelling and lack of proficiency in English.
ReplyDelete"But I am not saying that we must stop using social networking sites." You should not used the word "but" as the beginning of your sentence.
Thank you for your comment and suggestion, Andrea!
Delete"But I am not saying" can be "I am not saying though".
ReplyDeleteHaving illustrations made your post clearer and more interesting.
One can’t blame other people for using wrong English usage and grammar because that’s what they used to do and usually they don’t bother checking if it’s correctly used. However, I agree on this post and I like each example that you cited with their corresponding data.
ReplyDeleteThis topic is so informative and a well-thought-out. It is certainly true that nowadays, people tend to ignore the value of proper English usage. There are times when I shorten words and abbreviate them even though I know that there is no need to do that. I do not give much importance on punctuation marks and capitalization because I think they are not that useful in a sentence. Back when I was in high school, I remember there was an instance when I wrote a formal theme with the use of "chat language". I was unaware of that. It was like I was typing a text message. Good thing I saw it right away. The images you used helped a lot to keep the reader's attention and to better understand your entry.
ReplyDeleteI agree with John Carlo. While I was reading your post, however, I was waiting for the good effects of social networking sites on English grammar and usage. Maybe, you should cite both the positive and negative sides of your topic. Lastly, try to make your sentences as short as possible to avoid confusion and unnecessary repetition of punctuation marks like commas.
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ReplyDeleteHi Nicole! I agree with you on your main thought. Internet language or "net lingo" as internet users might call it, may be misleading. It greatly influences the way people use the English language since most of us are on the Internet all the time.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the use of punctuation marks is of great importance in communicating online because it would deliver your message clearer.
You wrote "But I am not saying that we must stop using social networking sites. (The whole world will hate me if I say so.)". I want to point out that commenting in parentheses should be avoided in Standard English writing.
I agree with this. And I think that texting also influences how people spell and pronounce words.
ReplyDeleteThis situation has gone viral among social networking sites users and it has affected the way how we use the English language in our everyday lives.
ReplyDeleteI like your chosen topic. It is very interesting especially to us, who are fond of social networking sites. Like others, I am also looking for the positive effects of social networking sites on English usage and grammar. I find the article incomplete without those things.
ReplyDeletehaha, I'm guilty beyond reasonable doubt!
ReplyDeleteI always tend to use "advance happy birthday" whenever I greet a friend. Thanks for the info, now I know how to deliver it correctly.
Your chosen topic is informative and I agree with it.
ReplyDeleteThe pictures have good examples which really helps in understanding your topic.
I agree with Ernest, your topic is very informative.
ReplyDeleteI am also guilty in using "advance happy birthday" whenever I greet a friend. I really learned a lot from your blog, thanks!
Although you did miss out on the positive effects of SNS grammar usage, you did a great job on choosing what to blog about! I would have to agree with the others that some thoughts and phrases could have been shortened. "In this present generation, majority of us, either young or old, use social networking sites ..." could instead be, "Majority of today's generation whether young or old use social networking sites…" Commas and other punctuations could have been used less as well to avoid confusion, as Carlo and Lawrence mentioned in their comments.
ReplyDelete"What we shall do is stop being in “vogue”." I do believe that this sentence has a commanding tone to it which is a no-no when writing something as opinionated as a blog post. Nevertheless, the flow was not boring at all and the visuals were great help!
I noticed that you used commas in wrong places. It confused me a bit and made me reread some of the sentences. Another thing that caught my attention was these sentences:
ReplyDelete"I know not one of us wants to be a laughing-stock, so, we shall, every time and everywhere, use Standard English. This will surely help us not to get humiliated by other people and likewise, to ourselves."
For me, the thought in these sentences could have been expressed simpler.
Good evening. The article is good. Many of us can relate about this topic maybe because it is a contemporary one. I only observe the last part which is "we shall, every time and everywhere, use Standard English. ", you wrote it in your article but the whole article itself didn't follow. I suggest that you should only have a single stand. I wanna congratulate you for this. God bless.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading your post, I thought “Wow! This post is good and well thought of”. Your post was well made and I think that it was very helpful and interesting. I like your idea of putting pictures on your post to make it more interesting and understandable. I barely noticed any mistakes in it (well, they are just minor though) and I would like to point them out to you and i want to make some suggestion regarding your post.
ReplyDeleteI suggest that you rephrase this sentence. “This wrong usage of the English language on these sites affects most of the people’s spelling and grammar, and worse, way of talking as well.”
“The improper uses of the words your and you’re, its and it’s, and their and there are also dominant grammar mistakes online.” You can just drop the word “online”.
“Another thing I notice is that we tend not to use apostrophes, punctuation marks, and capitalization.” I think that you should write the word “notice” in the past tense I think that you should not have used “another thing” because it made the sentence sound like a critique unlike the sentence before that you stated it as a statement.
That is all, I think they are just careless mistakes and everything else on post was well made.