A verb for using social networking sites
I am not answering the question because I expect a verb will emerge sometime but hasn't as yet. In English we tend to just use the noun and turn it into a verb e.g. "facebooking" or "booking" On Dr Who last night (British TV series popular with teens) two characters were flirting and talking off-topic while the Doctor was trying to save the universe as ever - he turned around and said "and look at you two - blogging." I would also like to note the evolution of the term "owned" meaning "I beat you". First someone on MSN misspelt it pwned and that became a substitute. then I think South Park used "poned" and more recently "You've been Edgar Allen Poned" ___________________________________________________________ To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Yahoo! Security Centre. http://uk.security.yahoo.com
This is interesting. First I'd like to comment that Dr Who is popular with the middle-aged too - we remember all the incarnations of The Doctor since Sylvester McCoy - and our children in their 30s, who watched it when they were at primary school and the Drs were Tom Baker and Peter Davidson, also love the new series. :) The comment you report implies that blogging is a kind of sideline to life, also that it's what people do when they 'should' be doing something else. But I guess it's a reference to the more 'personal journal' genre of blogging that teens might be expected to engage with, rather than the reviewing or current affairs genres that seem to rule the Technorati-type Top Ten listings. I'm not sure that the screenwriter really understands blogging though. Would that be the first mention of blogging in UK prime-time TV? M-H On 17/06/2007, at 3:32 PM, Derek McMillan wrote: <snip>
On Dr Who last night (British TV series popular with teens) two characters were flirting and talking off-topic while the Doctor was trying to save the universe as ever - he turned around and said "and look at you two - blogging."
<snip>
Hello all, This is interesting. The use of these social networking sites has been around for a couple of years now and actually they have become quite popular. However, this has not resulted in a verb describing their use. It is possible to speculate that since all the different variations are commercial products that have slightly different characteristics that this has somehow hindered the development of a collective verb describing the activity. If that were then case, for example, IM would have suffered the same fate. In the case of IM there were a lot of mutually exclusive sites/companies offering their services and each had a somewhat different offering. Nonetheless, it resulted in the verbs of either IMing or chatting. Blogging followed suit with IM. As several have suggested, the "oh so cool" verb might derived from a portion of the name, such as facing or spacing, but that would only refer to one site. Another more clumsy alternative might be communitying or social networking, but neither of these has the verve to be widely used. I just think it is odd that these sites are quite successful and widespread, but that there hasn't been the step of developing a verb to describe their use. Rich L.
richard.ling@telenor.com wrote:
Hello all,
This is interesting. The use of these social networking sites has been around for a couple of years now and actually they have become quite popular. However, this has not resulted in a verb describing their use.
In business circles the terms "linking" or “contacting” and "connecting" are commonly used. Linking is especially the terminology of LinkedIn but it's also a term I commonly use of Xing, Ryze, Soflow, Viadeo, Facebook and MySpace. On Ryze there is a term for successful use of Ryze and for wishing others success as members of Ryze. It's obvious of course: Ryzing. The real question is: "What value do these connections have?" The best answer is: "none at all if they are not used, and sadly that's the fate of most connections, they are simply neglected, and they have potential value, but no real value." On the other hand if you show even minimal interest in who these people are you learn a great deal about the world. Basic geography for instance, you get a feel for both how big and how small the world is. You learn about various cities, size, climate, festivals. You learn what people do for a living. You learn that these other people have ideas and opinions like your own, sometimes very like your own despite different culture, country and perhaps religious creed. And then just when you think "this person and me share the same wave, they hatch an opinion that seems to come from somewhere completely different." I've learned that people with huge accomplishment in the real world, are human, are real, can be wonderful mentors, can have both brilliant insight, and be downright foolish. I've learned to have more confidence in myself and my own viewpoint, even if I'm exploring the edges of my own knowing. You don't need to be right, or to be the expert, but it does help if you offer what you have, and if you try to use what you are given. John -- "John Stephen Veitch" http://www.ate.co.nz/ Should we be talking? By all means Google me.
participants (4)
-
Derek McMillan -
John Veitch -
Mary-Helen Ward -
richard.ling＠telenor.com