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Online terminology differences and IM-ing Oh brother! It doesn't take long for a lady to learn that terminology in cyberspace (on social sites) does NOT mean the same as what's in your Webster's dictionary at home! “Casual sexual” or “intimate” encounters is rather true to it’s definition in Webster’s, but I’d better learn some of the other terms fast, because of words like “flirt”, “wink”, etc. At first, I thought my misunderstanding was due to my age...you know...a generational thing. But then, on a another dating site for mid-age folks like myself, I was finding the phenomenon is alive and well there also. So it must be a cyberspace thing...like text-ese has become it’s own language on cell phones and in IM chats. Cyber-lingo seems to be thrust upon me whether I like it or not, but frankly, if I were to pick a language to learn it would be more French, Arabic or Spanish. I guess I’m just old fashioned....and also a bit naive it seems. I’m not much of an IM-er and my biggest problem is writing shorthand, and screwing up what I think should be proper punctuation. (I got straight A’s in accounting, business, literature and typing classes). Old habits are hard to break, but I’m working on it. I just hope it doesn’t carry over into my actual WRITING, because a letter, book or magazine article is no fun to read in text-ese, know what I mean? As for the online sensuality I’ve fallen victim to...it was partly my own fault, and partly because some people aren’t completely up front in their profiles or emails.....until you begin IM-ing with them anyhow. The part that was my fault was two-fold....not asking the right questions in email before IM-ing, and not looking closer at a person’s objectives in their outline. Just in case someone’s right for me in one of the other categories they picked (like long term dating or relationships), I don’t want to exclude them just because they have casual encounters listed too. Guys will be guys much of the time...and maybe being intimately casual is ok to them UNTIL they find a nice girl to date or become their exclusive girlfriend. I guess for me, it’s just hard to tell sometimes. I’ll probably be asking this question in email or IMs from now on....”What is your objective in contacting me today? Casual sex, or really getting to know each other?” Since women are usually the chased and men are usually the chasers, I re-worded my profile to hopefully weed out those just wanting a cheap fling. Being a writer, I realize the POWER words have in language and communications. Being a woman in cyberspace....I’m now learning (and adding on) different definitions. 
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9/26/2008 2:38 pm |
Kats: EXCELLENT BLOG-POST! May I suggest? That where your last sentence says 'learning different definitions' --- that you think of it as "adding-on to your current definitions". Many of us still write and speak 'proper' (English literature, composition & grammer class type 'proper') English - or French-Canadian, German or whatever our 'first' language is. I believe, as I believe many others do, as well - that if generations younger than us know ONLY cyber-language and/or ONLY txt-message language, etc., they're doomed to looking at very limited job opportunities. Like it or not - 'big business' will employ people who are learn/are able to use language that's not written in one-alpha-character. Also, 'big business' (good jobs) most often will employ a person who knows/understands language with MANY WORDS that have more than one syllable. Before I write a rambling-rambling blog reply you, please allow me to repeat . . . . . . VERY GOOD/EXCELLENT BLOG-POST! Elle712
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