According to Tuan (1991) 'words alone, used in an appropriate situation, can have the power to render objects, formerly invisible because unattended, visible, and im-part them to them a certain character'. The social network of Twitter seems to have its own language with a list of words that are used specifically in anything Twitter related such as the word tweet (broadcasting a message), attwicted (addicted to Twitter) and bird of mouth (using Twitter to circulate news). The use of these words that are used specifically related to Twitter creates a feeling of connectedness within the network. The special language for Twitter uses words closely related to the original word Twitter and when members use these cute wordplay's they gain a feeling of closeness with each other, which again stresses that this is a site which could almost be classified as a group of friends. Van Luyn (2013) believes that 'Space becomes place through humans imposing meaning on it'. Twitter is essentially a space where people can congregate to share information and news but through the use of a language that is specific to the site and by using a unique system of sharing information by hash tags and creating a close-nit network of friends Twitter becomes a place where people feel free to be who they are.
References
Tuan, Y.F. (1991). Language and the Making of Place: A Narrative - Descriptive Approach. Annals of the Association of American Geographers,Vol 81,no.4,692.
Van Luyn, A. (2013, August 26). BA 1002 Week 5: Spaces and Places. Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
Image Reference
A Basic Twitter Dictionary (2013) Retrieved from: http://addtwitter-followers.com/a-basic-twitter-dictionary-the-meaning-of-some-of-the-twitters-most-popular-words/
Jessica,
ReplyDeleteYour comment has outlined many points about how place is built within your network, especially as language is a huge part of twitter. Tuan (1991) explains '[p]lace, in the standard of literature, is a product of the physical transformation of nature' (p.687). Twitter has too transformed from a small website to a home of constant updates of people’s lives which has changed it from a blogging website into a popular communication source for many individuals. The easiness and comfort has allowed people to contact numerous others at once in a simple way; through the language, as you mentioned. Twitter is a perfect example of how humans have used language to find place, which you have pointed out clearly to me.
References
Tuan, Y. (1991). Language and the making of place: A narrative-descriptive approach. In Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 81(4), 684-696.