How Modern Language Is Changing What Is Classed As ‘English’ And How This Affects Your SEO.
How Teen Twitter’s Have Changed The OutLook Of Content Online
Most recently the press have suggested that teenagers have changed the English language through their use of social media sites. This has become apparent due to the addition of 267 new words to the latest edition of the Collins English Dictionary, many of the words added were previously referred to as sounds such as ‘meh’ and ‘mwah’.
Many people will be outraged that the influence of our language is being determined by teenagers that only use social networking sites to communicate with friends. However, facts and figures show that teenagers only make up 11% of Twitter’s community, 14% of the Myspace community and 9% of Facebook.
So who is changing the face of the English language?
The answer isn’t simple. The impact that ‘tweeting’ and ‘wall commenting’ has had on the English language is clear, but it could be argued that this is because of the quantity of people using the sites, rather than the type of people using them.
With the figures above showing the percentages of teenagers using these services it is clear the impact it has received. But this is due to a communicative culture. Texting, instant messaging and chat rooms, have all contributed to the way that language has developed. This suggests that this has not occurred, but has become more apparent, due to these social media sites.
The importance of these findings for businesses looking to use social media to improve their online presence is to look at the other figures. It is not teenagers that are taking over the sites but people over the age of 26 making the consumer market within social networking sites far wider than suggested in the Press.
When looking at your Search Engine Optimisation strategy, you need to research where your target audience can be found. The media may be putting people off using social media as part of their marketing strategy because they believe that the main audience is teens, however this is not necessarily the case and social media can still be as beneficial to businesses as it ever was before.
Reading between the lines, people need to be aware that although the English language is adapting in modern times, there are those that still don’t know the meaning of a ‘tweet’. Cater for your audience to make the most of your Search Engine Optimisation because, unlike the media suggests, isn’t being taken over by the under 20’s.
