PBS Idea Channel

Are There Internet Dialects? (3x19)

Air date: Aug 06, 2014

We consider ourselves natives of INTERNETLAND, which made us wonder if there's such a thing as an internet dialect. Not pronunciation, per se (since we type in these here parts), but a common way of communicating through word choice, vocabulary, and how these words are arranged and used. So what is Standard Internet Speak? Acronyms, emoticons, and hashtags? Purposeful misspellings and abbreviations? IS IT EVEN A THING?!?!?