Imagine a world without language. That would be pretty weird right? I think so. Language is used in many different ways. I’m going to be talking about how language is used in my meme community.
How language is used in wholesome memes
My community uses language very differently than other online communities. Since it is a meme community users primarily share memes. The users don’t normally have anything negative to say unless they disagree with something. Most of the language is written informally, and tends to agree with the meme commented on. Wholesome memes use language to connect with others by agreeing with another commenter on something. The writing tends to be informal but also directed at a specific person sometimes. The most popular memes are memes about family or about something relatable. My community uses internet slang like “LOL” or “WTF”. I think that “LOL” and “WTF” would be important to know in aspects of discourse in the community because it shows the tone and mood of the user. Sometimes my community even swears to get their message across. User Hexegesis writes “And passive-aggressive. “As I said in my previous email” = “Bitch, learn to fucking read”.” So, as you can see the reader intentionally wrote passive aggressive so you knew the tone being used. Then user mrjackspade writes as a reply to Hexegesis “ I used to do this. Now I just respond with my previous email as an attachment and say “Please see the attached email” At a certain point, I’m not reiterating all that shit.” So mainly it feels like they are having a conversation in an utterly informal way. User mrjackspade replies because they want to feel heard and write their opinion. The following image is what the users were talking about.
Language and tone continued
It is important to note that emphasizing some words can indicate and help the reader understand what the writer is feeling. “We don’t want to sound like robots to our internet friends” ( Because Internet chapter 4 pg 109). When reading something we want to be able to indicate and point out the tone of voice and mood so we can reply back in the correct appropriate response.
Speech
The only word the users would have to know to be involved in this community is the word wholesome. This word would be important to know if you wanted to share memes with the community because it has to go along with the wholesome guidelines. “A meme that is pure of heart, devoid of corruption or malice, modest, stable,virtuous, and all-around sweet and compassionate” (Reddit). I also believe that it would be useful to know slang words so you get what some users are referencing.
Shared language
Shared language is used to maintain the image of informal writing for my community. Knowledge of language commenters are using affects membership because if you know what people are talking about you are more likely to comment as well. Wholesome memes want to grow and gain new membership but they don’t have insider information or terminology to share. I think this inclusivity that my community exhibits affects users by spreading positivity and encouraging users to comment and express their opinion.
So language in my community is mostly shared informally, written with slang terms or forms of endearment or agreeance. It’s also important to note that anybody can join this group without having to know specific terminology. By communicating mostly in memes it means that the followers are drawn in to the group because of relatability. I think this relatability makes the followers feel comfortable enough to express their opinion.
