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Language and Social Interaction Undergoes a Change Due to New Modes of Communication
Recently, the New Oxford American Dictionary picked the Facebook term "unfriend" as 2009 Word of the Year.
Ananda Mitra, professor and chair of the Department of Communication, has now revealed how technology influences language and social interaction.
"We have to remember that the most important technology of communication is indeed language, and it is through the manipulation of the symbols that make up the language of a culture that we define the culture. Thus all elements of a cultural system influence the fundamental technology of language," Mitra said.
"The tools we use to improve our quality of life, from the rake to clear the fall leaves to the Smartphone to unfriend those we do not want on Facebook, all influence how we make sense of the world around us. As such these tools would necessarily influence language.
"Over the history of human civilization as new tools have been introduced we have had to find ways to name them. The printing "press" borrows the name from the wine "press," just as the word "eyeglasses" mirrors the material used to make the tool, although very few eyeglasses are now made of glass. We need to label the tools and as such technology influences language and words," Mitra added.
When asked what was the equivalent to "unfriend" before Facebook, Mitra said: "The idea of unfriend is closest to what my colleague and friend Professor Michael Hyde would call the opposite of acknowledging someone's existence. Drawing on the work of philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, Professor Hyde urges us to ponder the fundamental question: "Where art thou?" and the responsible answer of "Here I am." The unfriend option is equivalent to saying, "Here I am NOT!"
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