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English Language Investigation

Aim
Exploring the use of language on the popular social networking site,
Twitter.
Introduction
Twitter has been described as the SMS of the internet, and is a revolution
in technological social interaction. As a frequent user of Twitter myself, I
realise this is a method of escapism, primarily for teenagers. Users have
the freedom to express their thoughts and feelings about any topic,
without restrictions except the 140-character limit. I have used the site to
create strong relationships with people I have never met, despite the lack
of spoken communication. I therefore wanted to focus my investigation on
how the features of Twitter affect language use, taking gender into
account, as well as context and particularly the relationships between the
writer and reader. I also aim to explore how Twitter conforms to
conceptions regarding language and technology, such as abbreviations,
and how it differs to other methods of written interaction such as Facebook
and text messaging.
Hypothesis
-

With regard to features of politeness and face, I believe that users

will display several examples of negative and positive politeness
e.g. to respect the face of others. I feel this would be more obvious
in situations where the users arent familiar with each other. I would
also expect to see examples of face threatening acts, perhaps
influenced by the sense of anonymity within the site (privacy shield
concept).
I believe that Twitter allows freedom to enable users to tweet
exactly how they are feeling, regardless of how this is conveyed to
other people e.g. if a user were particularly angry about a situation,
I would expect to see this stated explicitly, perhaps including
offensive language.
I would also expect to identify features of spoken language
incorporated into these written tweets, e.g. non-fluency features. I
feel that users make up for the lack of non-verbal communication by
using emoticons that support the content of their tweet, and using
non-standard grammar, capitalisation, hyperextension etc.
Finally, I will expect to identify features of the Economy Principle.
Due to the technological advantages and constraints of Twitter, it is
likely that users will abbreviate and use core, everyday lexis etc. in
order to simplify their language use.

Methodology
To collect my data, I logged into my own Twitter account and scrolled
through my timeline (the homepage where new tweets are posted by the
users you follow). I took screenshots of the tweets and moved onto a new
section of tweets and repeated this step several times.

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Before I collected my data, I was aware of possible features to explore.
Therefore, I ensured that my tweets were not included in my data to avoid
any unintentional selection bias.
One issue with the data is that it is limited. On Twitter I happen to follow
more females than males. This is apparent from my data. When identifying
features with regard to gender, and especially when referring to theory, I
must consider the limited sample, so results cannot be conclusive. In
general, the sample may not be representative enough to measure how
much the language use is affected on Twitter. Also, within the data there
are some individuals that tweet more than once. If a user was to therefore
display more or unusual characteristics compared to the other users, this
could affect the results in some way.
I chose several different features to explore for my analysis. I will put some
data into results tables, which will help me to identify patterns of language
use.

The Economy Principle

Profanity/taboo language
Politeness and face
How do users compensate for the lack of non-verbal cues?

Results and Analysis

Use of Emoticons
Data No.
Gender

Number used

Example

11

Female

:|

15

Female

:D

20

Female

:)

29

Female

:)

34

Female

<3

35

Female

:(

37

Male

:(

Swearing/taboo lexis
Data No.
7
14
33
40
41
42
44

Gender of the user

tweeting
Female
Female
Female
Female
Male
Male
Male

Example
bitch
Dick
DA FUK?!
FUUCCKIINN
Shitty
Shyt (Shit)
Bitch

:*

:/

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Politeness
Data
Gender
No.
of the
user
tweeting

Positive Politeness

Negative
Politeness

Potential Face
Threatening
Acts

Male

I love youuu!

Female

I like it face to
face bitch.

15

Female

Aw thanks

20

Female

Thanks
sweetie

40

Female

YOU AREE FUUCCKIINN

AMMAZZZIINNNGGGG.

Abbreviations & initialisms across my data

Data No.
Abbreviations
4
5
6
Dont
9
Coz, youve
10
Dont, doesnt
12
Dont
13
Dont
14
Cause,
15
Thanks
20
Thanks
22
23
26
Gotta
29
Tho
33
Wasnt
35
Wont
37
Gonna, B
41
Gonna
44
45
def
TOTALS
18

Initialisms
TW
omg
RT
HMU
FTW
wtf
6

Politeness/Face
Within my data I identified some politeness features, including positive
politeness such as I love youuu! and YOU AREE FUUCCKIINN

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AMMAZZZIINNNGGGG. The users here clearly aim to satisfy the positive
face by boosting the self-esteem of the person they are addressing (as
according to Brown and Levinson). The data also features examples of
negative politeness, Aw thanks, and thanks sweetie. The users in this
case may have felt that they needed to thank whomever they were
addressing, regardless of the fact that there is no pressure to do so, unlike
a face-to-face conversation. It is unknown whether the user knows the
people they are addressing. However, the use of sweetie may suggest
that she has formed a closer online relationship with @GottaLoveTS (the
addressee). Comparing the nature of Twitter language to face-to-face talk,
it is clear that there are not many features of politeness because most of
the tweets are not addressed to another user directly. When they are used
however, they serve the same purpose as they would face-to-face.
Howell-Richardsons study in 1995 shows, Turn-taking in Computer
Mediated Conversation does not require the same social management
skills as in face-to-face, i.e. elements of CMC may be considered rude in
face-to-face. The potential face-threatening act I like it face to face bitch,
is interesting because it is debateable whether it is an actual Face
Threatening Act. In the tweet no users were directly addressed, I find it
hilarious when people try to fight me over a screen I like it face to face
bitch. However, it is possible that the user posted this tweet following an
altercation with someone on the site, and used this tweet as a way of
indirectly addressing them. If they were to then see this and acknowledge
that it was about them, this would be considered an FTA. In a face-to-face
conversation people often try to avoid conflict. This may be an example of
how the privacy shield comes into effect online. We can assume that
OvOAbigail i.e. the tweeter, does not know the person she had been
arguing with and therefore doesnt fear confrontation as there are few
serious consequences. We can also ask whether she was genuinely being
offensive here, or simply mocking in a light-hearted way. We are not aware
of the relationship between Abigail and the person she is arguing with.
Often in such situations, Twitter messages can be misinterpreted.
Taboo language
Within my data I identified several examples of tweets including language
that may be seen as offensive by other people, such as bitch, dick
shitty, fuk, etc. The open atmosphere of the Twitter genre allows users
to express their feelings and thoughts in a way that doesnt restrict the
use of taboo language; if posted, anyone is entitled to view it. If a user
does feel offended, there are options that allow them to report the
language. However, it could be argued that in some contexts, the words
are not intended to be offensive, which we can establish by the
relationship between the writer and reader. For example, mazinteen4life
tweets, IM ADDICTED TO @DaBieberBreezy, YOU ARE FUUCCKIINN
AMMAZZZIINNNGGGG. In this context it is clear that although the user
includes a swear word, it is used as an intensifier to emphasise her
approval. As she is directly addressed, we can assume that
DaBieberBreezy would not be offended, and neither would other users that
read it. The use of capitalisation and hyperextension in this tweet also
suggests that the user is trying to display appreciation. Another example
is #decentchatuplines You must be from Ireland, cause every time I see

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you my dick is Dublin. Clearly the word dick is used here for a humorous
purpose, and therefore in this context it is clearly not to cause offence.
Gender
It seems that most Twitter users within my data are teenagers or young
adults and therefore may be less inhibited to use swear words because it
is nowadays seen as more socially acceptable. This could be attributed to
both genders equally, as supported by my results. In Robin Lakoffs book
Language and Womans Place from 1975, it is suggested that women try
to avoid swearing and other taboo words. Although the results table on its
own doesnt support this, it is important to consider that my results are
not representative, as I had only taken into account 45 tweets. The data
shows that there are 10 males and 26 females, who used taboo lexis 3 and
4 times respectively. As a percentage this equates to 30% of male users,
and just over 15% of female users. Therefore, this would suggest that men
tend to swear more than women, even on a social network. John Locke
more recently, in his book Duels and Duets (2011) argues that men are
naturally more aggressive which might support my findings above.
How do users compensate for the lack of non-verbal cues?
Non-standard language forms
The data includes various non-standard language forms. There are several
examples of hyperextension, I love youuu, & YOU AREE FUUCCKIINN
AMMAZZZIINNNGGGG. In speech, prosodic features allow the audience to
understand the speakers intention e.g. tone and pitch may indicate
sarcasm. However, these features are absent in the written mode and it
can be misinterpreted. Twitter involves social interaction, and as the mode
is not spoken, users often use hyperextension to express frustration, or
more commonly enthusiasm, which is conveyed to the audience. The use
of capitalisation in YOU AREE FUUCCKIINN AMMAZZZIINNNGGGG, may
indicate volume. Question marks and exclamation marks combined and
extended also feature in the data, where god where is wireless tv?!?!, to
display overwhelming confusion and frustration. One tweet in particular
consists entirely of a mass of symbols and numbers, combined with an
attachment to a photo, !!!!!!!!!726/>!:&-!:&1, The user here i.e.
@str4tfordkid may have typed in a spontaneous, uncontrollable way with
an intention to convey excitement or confusion over the photo they
attached in the tweet.
Happiness or positive acknowledgement is also expressed through nonstandard punctuation, including symbols such as > or <. These are
regarded as mathematical symbols, but they have been incorporated into
Twitter language. However, their use is still related to the way they are
used in Maths, i.e. The shyt that happens at my job >>>>>>>, & The
Weeknds version of Trust Issues >>>>> In Maths, this particular symbol
means the first subject is greater than the latter (after the symbol) i.e.
10>2 (10 is greater than 2.) The usage here indicates that this version of
trust issues is great, emphasised even further by the symbol being
extended. A heart emoticon following this again highlights the users
approval of this matter. If the opposite symbol were to be used e.g. The
Weeknds version of Trust Issues<<<<< this would display disapproval.

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Graphological features
The language on Twitter also features emoticons to represent
paralinguistic features of speech, in order to accurately portray the users
feelings. For example, About to leave :( wont really have my phone to
much until Monday :/ In this instance, it wouldnt be clear whether the
user was happy or not about this situation without emoticons.
Non-fluency Features
Interestingly the data includes non-fluency features: @str4tfordkid:
basically and um basically so yeah, and @xEveB13ber: ugh I really wish I
could find a cure for cancer. This would allow us to consider the extent to
which this written mode contains features of spoken mode. Warschaeurs
studies from 1995 showed how students felt they could express
themselves freely, comfortably, and creatively during electronic
discussion, that participating in electronic discussion assisted their
thinking ability, and that they did not feel stress during electronic
discussion. This is clearly displayed in the previous example. The user
@xEveB13ber doesnt feel restricted in terms of the content she discusses
i.e. cancer. She feels she can express her thoughts about cancer freely and
comfortably. The theory would also suggest users take more time to think
about their tweets. However, my data could contradict this. Users may
tweet so spontaneously that they write exactly what they think, including
um and ugh, as in the data. Another possibility is that they are
deliberately inserted to maintain a conversational, informal tone, which is
characteristic of close friendships. Warschauers theory is now slightly outdated, and possibly the concept of Twitter is different to instant
messaging. It is important to consider the context of each tweet, as this
could affect whether non-fluency features are included. If a user was to
tweet via their phone while walking or on the bus, they may tweet as they
think, whereas someone at home on a computer may take more time to
construct a tweet. Ellipses are also included in several tweets, which either
create an element of suspense, or thought process, I just I dont know
WHERE Ive seen it before, & avalanna is seriously so cuteugh I really
wish I could find a cure for cancerpeople dont deserve it.
To what extent does the data exhibit features of the Economy
Principle or Principle of Least Effort outlined by George Zipf and
Andre Martinet who suggest that language change tends towards
the minimum amount of effort that is necessary to achieve the
maximum result, so that nothing is wasted?
The register within my Twitter data is very informal. Abbreviations such as
gonna and colloquial phrases e.g. coz youve got some nice buns reflect
the informal, relaxed atmosphere of the site and the relationship between
the writer and reader, or addressee. The data also contains a high
proportion of core, everyday lexis, where god where is wireless tv?!?!
This would suggest that users do not intend to complicate the language
use.
My results display various examples of abbreviations and initialisms
throughout the data. Even though a user may tweet using everyday,
monosyllabic lexis, they still abbreviate, Def not a food (good) way to
start the day It is clear that there are quite a few words that could
support the Economy Principle. For example, gonna and gotta are

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abbreviations that are used in speech, simply because when going to and
got to are spoken quickly, it leans towards the simpler pronunciation, and
these have fewer phonemes to articulate. With regard to technology,
twitter users may aim to simplify language due to the platform they are
using to access the social network i.e. using a mobile phone could mean
that they would want to type and send a tweet quickly and efficiently.
Tweeting via a phone or computer keyboard also seems to result in
spelling mistakes, which I identified across the data e.g. food instead of
good, ans instead of and etc. This is perhaps also influenced by the
spontaneity of tweets and the lack of self-correction.
Most of the sentences used are short, snappy sentences. This is perhaps
due to the 140 character limit or the desire to tweet spontaneously and
quickly, mcdonalds right now would be #amazeballs. Some sentences
are also incomplete, bobby valentino <3, Bottom sixes and chainsss,
etc. As this is in the written mode, and the register of the site is informal
we could suggest that people dont feel pressured to complete sentences
and use standard grammar, feel to cry eye is burning like hell. This
particular tweet omits the possessive my and lacks punctuation. Despite
being non-standard and incomplete, the user perhaps assumes knowledge
from the audience who would understand what she is saying regardless.
The examples in my data support the Economy Principle, and the
informality of the register could suggest that the Economy Principle has
played a significant part in the process of informalisation, suggested by
Norman Fairclough.
Abbreviations
In my hypothesis I predicted that I would find several examples of
abbreviations, which also support the Economy Principle. After collecting
my results, I was surprised to see only few abbreviations. Most of them are
typical of spoken language e.g. doesnt, dont, thanks. Some initialisms
identified are clearly influenced by technology e.g. omg which was first
used in text messaging, years before Twitter was created. In the data there
were also no examples of you abbreviated to u, which seemed
surprising because I thought it would be one of the most commonly
abbreviated words. In addition, there were no examples of alphanumeric
spellings e.g. c u 2nyt @ 7 which some people may have expected to
find.
In David Crystals theory on text messages and tweeting, he discusses the
myth that texting and tweeting is full of abbreviations and that the youth
of today are either trying to create a new way of language, or they are
simply illiterate. He discusses how evidence shows that only 10% of the
words are abbreviated. Considering the abbreviations and initialisms from
my data as a whole, they amount to 4%, which is less than Crystal
suggested. The theory is now a few years old, and during this time
technology has advanced. Most devices that access Twitter have a
QWERTY keyboard, identical to a computer keyboard, where each letter of
the alphabet has its own key. Therefore, little effort or time is required to
type the word you for example, as is the case with earlier mobiles. This
could suggest why the use of the u abbreviation is decreasing.

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Twitter was modelled on the concept of texting, and therefore users are
limited to 140 characters per tweet, similar to the 160 texting limit. It is
likely that in some cases where users want to post a comprehensive tweet,
they are restrained by the limit and consequently feel obliged to
abbreviate. Although there is no evidence of this in my data, I am aware
this is a factor in my personal experience. It seems that my data does
somewhat conform to David Crystals observations, but it is clear that
users aim to simplify their language, as the Economy Principle indicates.
Conclusion
It is evident from my analysis that the freedom to express opinions and
thoughts on Twitter is not restricted, and language choice differs for
various reasons e.g. to accurately convey their emotion to the audience.
Compared to other forms of electric communication, there are similarities
i.e. non-standard forms and emoticons are what we would also expect to
find in text messages. Twitter was based on the texting concept, which
could suggest why similar features are incorporated. I feel that there are
several factors that make Twitter a unique social network, such as the
level of informality and the humorous/colloquial tone to tweets which
deliberately aim to entertain, @WeirdHorse: Just broke up a fight between
a big swan and a small swan. I told the big swan to pick on someswan his
own size. Another distinct feature is the impact of the younger generation
and fanbase community. Celebrities use the site as a way of talking
personally to their fans, and fans use it themselves to form close bonds
with one another. Unique usernames on Twitter help people to identify
others with similar interests. The users JBEmire, iBieber_Candy,
DaBieberBreezy for example, are all fans of Justin Bieber.
Overall, it seems that the language features are somewhat similar to those
used in texting and social networks such as Facebook, but the open
atmosphere and wide accessibility allow for a unique sense of community
within the site that makes it different from other methods of social
interaction.
Word count 2742 (excluding quotes, tables and headings)

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Bibliography
Brown and Levinsons theory on Politeness http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politeness_theory
Technology Theory: Privacy shield concept, Warschaeur, Hiltz and Turoff, HowellRichardson AS English Language Handbook on Language and Technology.
Gender Theory: Robin Lakoff AS English Language Handbook on Language and
Gender
Gender Theory Duels and Duets John Locke. Erm
David Crystals theory on abbreviations - http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Boj8VYzDAy8
Economy Principle and Informalisation A2 English Language Handbook on
Language Change

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Appendix

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Investigation Log
Date

Progress

June 2012

I began considering ideas for my Investigation in June. Areas I was at first

interested in included social networking and language used in rap music. I chose
these because they are topics that Im particularly interested in. I listen to rap
music a lot so Im very familiar with it, and I also use Twitter on a daily basis. I
noticed that within rap music there was quite a significant difference between the
language use of a male rapper and a female rapper. On Twitter Ive noticed
characteristics of the language used, mainly just by ordinary people, not celebrity
accounts. I thought that focusing my investigation on a topic I am interested in
would encourage me to produce a good investigation. I decided in the end to
choose social networking because I can refer to some of my knowledge on
Language and Technology from the AS course such as the theories.

September
2012

I have collected my data to analyse for this investigation. In order to do this I

logged into my twitter account, and took screenshots from my timeline i.e. where
tweets are displayed by the people I follow, in chronological order. At the moment
I have probably a few hundred tweets altogether, but I am thinking about
narrowing them down to maybe only 20/30 or so.
I have now narrowed down my data and I am beginning to annotate the data to
see what I find. This will then allow me to think about the various aspects I want
to produce results for and analyse.
I had a discussion with my tutor about the possible themes and theories to use for
my investigation. We discussed perhaps splitting the data up even further in
terms of gender. I could then analyse my data generally and then see if gender
makes a difference. We discussed possible themes such as humour, politeness,
privacy shield, and general conventions of tweets that I can explore including the
impact of the technological restraint.
After a discussion with one of my tutors, I have decided to begin analysing my
data in terms of basic linguistic features i.e. lexis, register, grammar, modes of
address, topic and purpose. Hopefully this will allow me to identify certain
aspects which may seem as more interesting, and then I may change my subheaded themes depending on what I find.
I have begun to make bullet points underneath each of my subheadings. I find this
a better way of creating points that are specific and concise, which I can later go
back to and elaborate on and put into paragraph format.
I have finished making my planned points for my analysis under several
subheaded themes i.e. lexis & register, modes of address, grammar, topic and
purpose. I have handed in this analysis, my results etc. to my tutor so that I can
receive feedback.
Today I had a meeting with my tutor who gave me feedback on my work. We
discussed several things, one being whether I should make my aim more specific.
At the moment it is to explore the use of language on the popular social
networking site, Twitter. We decided that after I have written up my analysis fully,
I should perhaps narrow down my themes & create a more specific aim. To do this,
I will rank my themes from most interesting to least. This will then allow me to
perhaps get rid of some analysis that will reduce my word count if I exceed it, and
this again may help me to create a more detailed aim. We also discussed
including the concept of the privacy shield and how this can relate to politeness.
I have now begun writing up my analysis in full paragraph form, making sure that
I am drawing from my results and creating relevant points under the subheadings.

25th January
2013
28th
January
2013

2nd
February
2013
5th
February
2013
11th
February
2013
15th
February
2013

18th
February

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2013

22nd
February
2013

1st March
2013

5th March
2013
8th March
2013
15th March
2013

18th March
2013
20th March
2013
21st March
2013
22nd
March

The new headings I have created are:

- How does the data conform to David Crystals theory on abbreviations &
the economy principle, established by George Zipf and Andre Martinet?
- Profanity/taboo language and gender
- Politeness
How does the written mode and lack of NVC affect the language used?
I have now finished writing up my analysis, making sure that I have been thorough
and open-minded in my discussion. I decided that I had enough analysis, if not too
much, so I have eliminated the two themes regarding modes of address, and topic
& purpose. I am still left with four themes which I think is definitely enough. I have
kept a backup of the points I noted down under the two eliminated themes, which
I may come back to if some of the existing headings turn out to be not very
relevant or not up to standard.
Today I received my first draft back that I handed in. I had a discussion with my
tutor about aspects I could improve on. Points that I need to change include:
writing about patterns in my data that may affect the quality of my results, and
possibly creating a separate section to pull the points together on gender. I also
may combine the remaining points on taboo language & politeness/face into one
section. In addition, other research on theories, particularly gender theorists will
help me to improve the quality of my work.
Today I made improvements to my investigation, working on the areas that my
tutor suggested. I made particular improvements to my hypothesis and method.
Today I made changes to my analysis, including re-arrangement of the themes
and combining different aspects of my analysis. I now have taboo language and
politeness as one larger section. I plan to hand in a second draft by the end of this
week.
Today I received feedback on my second draft. My tutor suggested that I make
other various changes, including separating the politeness and taboo language
back into individual sections unless there are significant links between them. My
tutor also suggested writing about patterns I identify within the data, and then
introducing the various theories and applying them. I may also think about turning
my analysis headings into questions, and I was given tips on how to reduce my
word count.
I have begun re-drafting again, this time really considering which areas of my
investigation are not relevant enough and can be removed. This will hopefully
make my investigation a bit less general.
I have re-arranged other areas in my analysis, focusing on my use of theories. I
have also looked at using some more up-to-date theory in my work.
Today I began to finalise my investigation, including a bibliography and also
checking for any errors.
I have conducted a final word count and pieced my investigation together,
including the completed bibliography and appendix.