003. Tumblr Linguistics
Do your friends berade you for using too many emoji, not making correct sentences, and using memes as replies too often? We look into the strange world of Tumblr linguistics, and how young girls are shaping the next era of language.
Episode three: the episode where it becomes incredibly clear that we’re both meming tumblr trash, and where Sophia refuses to do the Home Improvement Confused Grunt Noise (and earns that explicit tag). Text-based media are opening a new window into cultural and linguistic development and we have a good time discussing this, and swapping some dank memes.
Relevant articles:
“Meme wars: the online pitch for your vote” - from Hack on Triple J (7/6/2016), ABC
This article covers the thoroughly confusing amount of ‘dank memes’ in the Australian election campaign. For clarification: nobody in Australia understood what was going on, either.
“Emotiki is the world’s first Maori emoji keyboard” - Amanda Cropp (27/5/2016), stuff.co.nz
“Why White People Don’t Use White Emoji” - Andrew McGill (9/5/2016), The Atlantic
“Every Tumblr meme from 2015, in one insane timeline” - Abby Ohlheiser, Caitlin Dewey and Julia Carpenter (18/12/2015), The Washington Post
“A mom needed help understanding her teenage daughter, so she asked the internet if ‘same’ was a curse word” - Madison Kircher (1/9/2015), Tech Insider.
“Teenage Girls Have Led Language Innovation for Centuries” - Helen Thompson (10/8/2015), Smithsonian
“Move over Shakespeare, teen girls are the real language disruptors” - Gretchen McCulloch (7/8/2015), Quartz
“Yes, You Can Even” - Tia Baherl (20/11/2013), The Toast
This is one of our favourite articles. If you only read one, read this one.
“Ironic Serif: A Brief History of Typographic Snark and the Failed Crusade for an Irony Mark” - Maria Popova (27/9/2013), brainpickings.org
“Tumblr fandom is the modern-day sonnet (really)” - Aja Romano (16/1/2013), The Daily Dot
“The Power of Sign Language Helps Children with Autism Create Meaning in Language” - Michele Ricamato (April 2008), Signing Time.
Media that was discussed in this episode:
“Writing Skills” - Randall Munroe, xkcd
Know Your Meme entry for “Mitochondria is the Powerhouse of the Cell”
Meme documentation entry for “Wake Up Chad”
A post about the difference between nightblogging and shitposting on tumblr.com
A post on the development of male-specific words such as guyliner and bromance on tumblr.com
A brief history of Auslan from www.auslan.org.au
Emotiki facebook page for download updates.
A warning: Homestuck is long. In June 2012, it was described as ‘a little under one bible’ in adjusted length, and it’s got a lot longer since then. But it is a seminal piece of internet literature and has had a notable effect in culture - we can talk about that more in the fandom episode.
Books:
Richard Dawkins, “The Selfish Gene” (1976) Sometimes I just wish dick dorkins would stay in his lane, this was actually not a bad book.