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Brian Aparicio

The Effects of Social Media Apps on High School Freshmen

Teenagers in the twenty first century are the children that have grown up in the age of

technology. From the rise of computers, to the epidemic of smartphones, teenagers have been

affected and have digested all of this information and use it on a daily basis. These teenagers are

exposed to the repercussions of technology in a world that expects them to use it for virtually

everything. From school work to communication, the various social media apps presented by the

rise of technology have affected teenagers specifically in many ways. One of these is the use of

language. Communication is something that is very important, specially for those between the

ages of fourteen and seventeen as they constantly use applications on their phones to

communicate with their friends and peers. However, the ongoing language barrier is something

that stands out. Textese is defined as the text messaging and communication methods that are

brought up through the use of online applications and websites. The relationship between this

and the targeted demographic is then studied and analyzed to figure out how the use of textese

affects or alters the language patterns in a group of teenagers over a period of time.

Technology is something that has shaped the lives of millions of users as the ongoing

growth of it is somewhat astronomical. From tech companies ranging from Google to Apple, the

days become consumed in technology, as seen in the lives of the many teenagers who have

grown up in it. Teenagers have become so accustomed to the use of social media websites such

as Facebook and Twitter, which have grown in massive numbers in the past ten years. This has

allowed this group to become accustomed to messaging and to ultimately learn and analyze

others online. Now, language is something that is very important. It is something that is

developed as one grows up and is influenced by many things. Focusing on the use of social
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media applications, teenager language pattern and behavior is analyzed to see how different

factors play a role in their developmental language. To do this, various factors are taken into

consideration. One is the language used in these applications that include Facebook, Twitter,

Snapchat, Instagram and Immesage. The key language used in all of these applications has to

have some sort of correlation to the language used amongst teenagers who frequent them. David

Huffaker and Sandra Calvert both talk about this specific topic in the article titled “Gender,

Identity, and Language Use in Teenage Blogs”, which sheds light to the language patterns used

and how they are directly correlated to teenagers. The second aspect of this research that is being

analyzed the language itself. What kind of language is being displayed? What words or phrases

stick out the most and become part of everyday communication? These are questions that are

imposed by Thomas Fish, who analyzes the internet slang used in many applications and

websites and how that is becoming part of daily language used by teenagers. His study is then

used to come to terms with the language usage correlation between teenagers and social media

applications. The research is intensive but plausible as the question of language usage and

change is ultimately imposed and answered.

To conduct a study analyzing the language used in teenagers through social media

applications, there were several steps that were followed. The first was gathering the participants,

which consisted of analyzing teenagers. For this, it was crucial to use high schoolers, particularly

high schoolers. About fifteen high school freshmen were researched for a week. This was easily

done as the researcher used his sister and her friends to conduct the study in a place were all

would be present at the same time. Next, a handout was created with the following questions:

Which social media apps do you frequent on a daily basis? (Circle One: Facebook, Instagram,

Snapchat, Twitter). The next question read as follows: What kind of words or language do you
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see on these applications? As well as a question that read: Do you feel like your language use has

been affected by the daily use of these applications? After these questions, there was a section at

the bottom of the handout that asked for the teenagers to write down words and phrases they

used on a daily basis and if these were words they used in normal conversation. The researcher

felt like the handout was broken down to the simplest term to reach the intended audience. It was

important to create a study that would be easy for high school freshmen to answer honestly,

without feeling marginalized or a study that would turn out biased answers. When the handout

was handed out the fifteen participants, the reactions were pretty positive. The researcher

expected some negative backlash as teenagers sometimes do not like being part of studies or

surveys, simply because they are not exposed to them that often. After everyone was done, the

handouts were collected and the information was analyzed carefully. However, when this was

happening, the researcher asked the high schoolers to describe their experiences more in depth,

to try and get a more personal feel in the research instead of relying on answers that may have

been inaccurate. Each teen shared their experience with social media and how they felt their

language patterns had changed and if they felt like this would impact them in the future. This

was information that was also then used in the analysis and then compared to the scholarly

articles to formulate an answer to the prospective research question.

When analyzing the data from the study, there was a lot to take in as there was a lot of

varying answers to the questions. To start, the researcher took all fifteen handouts and went

through each one. From the fifteen participants, all fifteen high schoolers said they used the

social media apps that ranged from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Imessage to

communicate with their friends and family members. From these applications, the ones that are

the most frequented amongst the results were Instagram and Snapchat. Facebook was said to be
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more of an application that was used to look up news and information about family and not so

much to socialize or keep up with the daily findings of their friends. It was also interesting to see

about half of the participants spring up the Apple versus Android debate. In a society that has

grown up not knowing life without technology, Apple has been a name that they have heard their

whole lives. This of course, has become a trend as most high schoolers try and see who has the

best phones. Today’s society puts more emphasis on appearances and looks because that is what

they see and learn from the internet. This was an important topic that the researcher collected

from the data because it added motif to some of the answers.

The second question dealt with analyzing the language used in these apps. This dealt with

participants mentioning words or phrases they see on social media that have tuck with them and

have made an impact. Some of the words that were common in the results were phrases such as

“OMG” which translates to “Oh My God”, “LOL” which translates to “Laughing out Loud”,

”KMS” which translates to “Kill myself”, “ Finna” which translates to “about to do”. “Wig”

which is complicated to explain. When teenagers use wig, they use it in contexts when they are

flabbergasted, which can also be applied to the word “Shook”. Another expression seen was

“Fleek” which is used when something is exemplary and needs to be shown off. Another phrase

that has become popular that is seen in the research is “What’s the tea”. This expression is used

when someone is asking a question about a certain situation. There are variations to this such as

“Sipping the tea” which means minding someone’s business and “ The tea is piping hot” which

refers to conversation that is uncontrollably irresistible to pass up. Aside from all these

expressions, the most popular answers involved using cuss words or words that are inappropriate

to use on a daily basis in regular conversation. Some of these words translated to “Female dog”,

various inappropriate body parts and so forth. This is important in analyzing the results because
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cussing has become its own universal language, which has been outspread by the use of these

social media applications. It is highly uncommon to speak to a teenager and not expect them to

use cuss words or some sort of slang variation of a word. These are things that were brought up

when the participants shared their experiences and then analyzed with the data on the handouts.

The third question on the handout dealt with asking if the words and phrases on these

applications affected their daily language. The researcher felt like this question was going to be a

bit tricky or confusing for the participants to answer because it dealt with them analyzing their

own language use. However, the results negated this theory because each of the fifteen

participants accurately described their language histories and backgrounds to the best of their

abilities. Some of the answers presented added to the theory that the language and phrases seen

above were part od their daily language and they did feel like their language patterns had

changed because of it. When teenagers spend a lot of their time on these apps, they start adapting

to what they see and it becomes part of their everyday language. About three of the fifteen

participants said they did not feel like their language patterns had changed from the use of social

media applications. The researcher then asked for details on this. They answered with the

analysis that the learnings of phrases and words on social media differed from what they have

known to learn and repeat at school growing up. They saw the distinct separation between both,

which becomes important when analyzing the correlations between applications used and the

teenagers who use them.

The final question on the handout dealt with the participants sharing how they felt their

overall language patterns had changed or varied by using these social media applications. The

results mostly dealt with the participants explaining how the language on the applications was

language they used normally and on a daily basis. It was something that they felt like they related
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to, used with their parents and used the textese type of phrases to shorten. This was an analysis

that was quite relevant because it made sense that they would choose to use abbreviations

because it is easier to make phrases shorter in any context. This was something that stood out.

Most of the participants agreed that they would use these phrases as they grew up and would not

leave them out because they did not plan on leaving their use of these social media applications.

However, it is plausible to say that some of these words will not be used in a matter of time as

they begin to die down and trickle out of the context they are used in on a daily basis.

When analyzing the data in a more careful context relating to the research, there was a lot

of questions answered. One was the impending correlation between language and social media

use. One thing that sprung up was how this gave each participant a source of identity. This was

due to the language bringing a community together, through similar interests. This made sense as

teenagers spend most of their time trying to fit in to a certain community, mainly online. It has

become the new normal to seek out validation on the internet from the respective online

communities that are found on these different social media applications. Because language is the

only thing they can use to communicate with each other aside from picture messaging and video,

they become set on repeating and making these textese phrases a part of their daily vocabulary. It

begins to give them a source of belonging and identity. David Huffaker explains this in his

article relating to gender and identity as a source for language found in teenagers that frequent

these social media applications. “Given the heavy use of weblogs by both male and female

adolescents, it is timely to link their online weblog creations to their emerging self-constructions.

Because many aspects of identity, both online and offline, involve language use, we examine

online identity as the disclosure of personally identifying information, emotive features, sexual

identity and semantic themes through discourse expressed in online weblogs” (Hukkard 3).
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After looking over the results and the data collection from the fifteen participants, there

was a realization that language usage on these online websites does have a direct impact on the

language usage of these teenagers on a daily basis. They become so accustomed to using these

phrases on the internet on a daily basis that they begin to adapt to this and adopt it in their daily

language usage at school and regularly. It is quite important to analyze the different aspects of

how these participants can account for the millions of teenagers in the world. Sometimes these

kinds of studies cannot account for other populations, but for this one specifically, the teenagers

usually are all accustomed to using social media to communicate. Even milleanials are taking

from this and using some of these phrases in their daily language. The results were seen as static

and usually stayed the same throughout, but of course, there was some varying answers that

stood out. The negation of the correlation between language and application usage by some

participants was quite interesting because it completely drifted from what the other teenagers

answered. These participants believed that language was something that was passed down and

not learned or influenced so easily on social media. While this might sound correct, it is not

because language is influenced by everything a person hears, sees, and interacts with. Language

is very complex and easily influenced, which was something that was learned mainly from the

research conducted. Textese is growing, it is tending and it is definitely not going away because

teenagers will continue using it, popularizing the phrases and starting movements with these

words, thus creating new language rules and patterns.

After conducting the research on the correlation between language and social media

usage in teenagers, various things can be concluded. One is that there is a strong correlation

between the two and that is due to the fact that they use it and see it and feel it and understand it

on a daily basis. Another thing learned is that teenagers use their language as part of their
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identity, which shows how teenagers are desperate to fit into a certain community. A third and

last thing learned throughout the research process is that language patterns learned will not go

away if there is a motif, and in this case, they are not dropping the textese and slang because it is

part of their language identity. Ultimately, language identity is important to teenagers and it will

be a motif for them to continue using these phrases and language patterns in their daily lives.
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Works Cited

Huffaker David A, Calvert Sandra L; Gender, Identity, and Language Use in Teenage Blogs,

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Volume 10, Issue 2, 1 January 2005.

Fish, Thomas W. Internet Slang and High School Students: A Teacher's Perspective,

Gonzaga University, Ann Arbor, 2015, ProQuest.