Research Paper Outline
Introduction
The aim of this paper is to examine how the internet has impacted the English language with the use of hashtags.
Thesis: The increased use of hashtags on the internet has negatively impacted the English language as young people utilize the shortened tags instead of learning the right spelling of the words as well as how to use proper grammar which they need for school.
Hashtag is an official word which can be found in the OED thus promoting the idea it can be used in school and other professional situations.
Main Point #1: Hashtags are aesthetically displeasing
“‘I believe a tweet free of hashtags is more pleasing to the eye, more easily consumed, and thus more likely to be retweeted’”-Daniel Victor (House, 2014).
In other words, some argue it is not the tweet itself that should be gotten rid of but the way they are written.
“‘I believe for every person who stumbles upon your tweet via hashtag, you’re likely turning off many more who are put off by hashtag overuse’”-Victor (House, 2014).
Main Point #2: Why Hashtags are Used
New Age Propaganda
“Hashtags activism draws on the logicoutrage or heightened audience reaction caused by iconic images can sway public opinion and eventually effect changes in policy” (Srivastava, 2014).
Many of these images and topics are based not on actual facts but are made to sway others to the creator’s opinionated views which mean people are utilizing the English language to force people to agree with their way of thinking.
Main Point #3: Hashtags are a linguistic tumor
Not a sorting tool anymore, more like a cancerous tumor destroying the English language as we know it (Biddle, 2011).
People use hashtags to be part of an in-crowd where the only people who understand the tag’s meaning are the people in the known thus dividing those who use proper English verses those who do not.
Hashtags are ultimately pointless and redundant as it is only used for inside jokes between intimate groups of people (Biddle, 2011).
They are ultimately about nothing and are thus an argument against being something which needs to be known by everyone (Biddle, 2011).
Thus all it is doing is hurting the English language.
Main Point #4: Changing the Way We Talk, Becoming Paralangual
Used in daily conversation casually (MacDonald, 2015)
Paralanguage: use all the time, every day. Comprised of non-verbal indications that follow speech and help us articulate tones and meanings (MacDonald, 2015).
Difficult to communicate these non-verbal expressions through text resulting in misunderstanding (MacDonald, 2015).
Conclusion
Hashtags should not be utilized to replace proper English spelling and grammar for it could distort the meaning of the message as well as instill the idea that it is acceptable to not know how to use the language properly.
Overuse can lead to negative impacts on one’s education as well as believing in everything they read and hear because it had a hashtag.
Changing how we speak which will result in even more abuse of the language.
Makes Americans look like idiots.
Overall, hashtags should not be so widely used as young people should be focused on proper spelling and being grammatically correct.
References
Biddle, S. (2011, December 28). How the Hashtag Is Ruining the English Language. Retrieved January 15, 2017, from http://gizmodo.com/5869538/how-the-hashtag-is-ruining-the-english-language
House, T. (2014, June 28). Is 'hashtag' ruining the English language? Retrieved January 15, 2017, from http://college.usatoday.com/2014/06/28/is-hashtag-ruining-the-english-language/
MacDonald, M. (2015, January 08). How #Hashtags Changed the Way we Talk. Retrieved January 15, 2017, from http://www.tintup.com/blog/how-hashtags-changed-the-way-we-talk/
Srivastava, L. (2014, August 19). 'Unhashtagable?' Retrieved January 15, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lina-srivastava/unhashtagable_b_5688885.html
