E-tivities, 2nd Edition

Resources for practitioners 12 Learning ‘Netspeak’

I’ve used the term ‘Netspeak’ in this book for the kind of action-based communications I’ve tried to harness. This term comes from David Crystal’s books about new types of language (Crystal, 2004, 2008).

Talking online, sometimes called ‘Netspeak’, lacks the facial expressions, gestures and conventions that can be important in communicating face-to-face and in conveying personal opinions and attitudes. In most online platforms, participants and e-moderators alike must always be alert to the potential for ambiguity. This phenomenon led to the development of ‘smileys’ or ‘emoticons’ as a substitute. Incidentally, the word ‘emoticon’ is derived from the term ‘emote’, as a means to indicate a virtual ...