this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2024
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PSA: Remember that the internet isn't real life (lemmy.world)
submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago (4 children)

I'm out of the loop on this one. Are you for real?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Yup, there's a book called "Because Internet" by Gretchen McCulloch that details intergenerational linguistics. Ultimately a lot of the answers boil down to "because internet" thus the name of the book, but it digs into the various causes of linguistic shifts in generations. Interestingly "written" communication has become much more relevant and so people have developed styles, techniques, and quirks to represent themselves. We see trends like young people not ending their sentences with periods, the use of ellipses, capitalization and more

Remember, linguistics is a descriptive science and not prescriptive. You can't control how people communicate but you can observe trends

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I'm not a professional linguist, but I can confirm. It's about trying to set a tone for your written sentences. We don't use periods when we talk in real life, you know? Adding them to a text makes it read too serious

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I can't see why they wouldn't be

See how that sentence got that soft landing as opposed to this one that informs you of the nature of the statement it's at the end of? The first one doesn't direct you to get excited or to take the statement as a question, but it also doesn't give the hard ending of a period. It lets the sentence "breathe"

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

I don't feel like it extends to long(er) form communication. Texting, absolutely.

Hello

is very different from

Hello.

in text. Or lol is "that's funny" and lol period is more "fuck you." Longer things makes punctuation more necessary.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

... Are you for real?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

yea?

this is an informal sentence

This makes it seem like I'm in a professional environment.