The digital era we are a part of influences so much of how we speak, and even how we think. What’s trending creates new additions to our vocabulary, which increases the speed at which society changes. Viral videos create new slang terms, which get integrated into daily conversations typically among the younger generation.
We continue to consume media and create a new standard of staying up-to date so you can understand what people are referencing. It is an exclusive club that only accepts you if you dedicate time to your phone, and decrease your overall productivity. It is a never-ending cycle of change.
Gen Z is the most active on platforms like TikTok, which is the root of many trending topics. Growing up in an ever-changing environment stimulates the response that we have to stay “in the know,” or we’ll fall behind socially. This also creates further division between the younger and older generations. While adults have more knowledge and therefore wisdom, they aren’t dedicated to the same trending topics as teens and young-adults.
“Lowkey, I’m finna cook on this essay.” Yes, that sentence is completely up to Gen Z standards, and is the baseline of niche slang used. The Cambridge dictionary has recently included the phrases, “the ick, glow-up, and sidequest,” in their books. These terms have also been used for several months and are nothing new to the younger generation, and they are just recently being accepted as actual English. That poses the question, “Are we even speaking English at this point?”
University College London conducted a study on 2,000 parents, asking how they felt about the “seismic generational language gap.” 86% of them explained that they feel like teens and young adults “speak an entirely different language.” Popular acronyms also sent these adults into a spiral, with only 65% being able to identify the meaning of “NGL,” (not gonna lie).
A concept that overtook the media is brain-rot. Essentially, brain-rot has no meaning. It becomes relevant because people are chronically online. It’s like the placebo of trending media. If you spent hours trying to figure out why knee surgery was tomorrow, you were scammed. Yet, it gets referenced enough to stay relevant.
The language we have created is an expressive form in itself. Vocabulary is not meant to remain stagnant, because society is meant to evolve, but we have taken it to the extreme. When technology advances, so do we. When the industrial revolution completely changed society, the vocabulary followed. “Factory,” “railroad,” and “machinery,” were all relevant words. Now, instead of creating new terms for life-changing technological advancements, we are encrypting meaning into words that essentially mean nothing.
Though TikTok is all the rage right now, especially after the mere 12-hour ban, a new social media platform is sure to pop up sometime soon. That provides an untarnished space to create new babble for our own entertainment. No matter what apps we use, people will continue with the mass consumption of media. There is no slowing down.
