03.31.14

In the language of the Internet, it’s no longer necessary to form an actual sentence or complete thought. This. I can’t even. Preach. NOPE. These short, overinflated reactions punctuate the social media feeds of teenagers and the Huffington Post, alike. Aptly called “fragments” by Teddy Wayne in the New York Times, these hyperboles are typically used with an image, video or other shared content. Even adults “are intentionally simplifying their online language while inflating their emotional response, all for public consumption.”

Has a 140-character world shrunk our vocabularies, or have cluttered feeds left no room for commentary? Maybe neither. The Times cites the image-driven reality of the internet and quotes Professor David Crystal who says fragments are not far off from images themselves.

We now have an endless, scrollable feed of content and a dramatic reaction just makes for better consumption. So, should you join the fragment fun and change your message to fit the era of emoticons and OMG? Just…yes.

Read the article here.