Language, Reality and Imgur– Blog #3

Figure 1. I Got Magnets. (imgur 2013)

Imgur is a virtual space where users share images with one another and comment on these images. During the lecture it was said that “Language creates it's own reality.” (Van Luyn, A. 2013). This directly relates to the imgur concept, in that over time a subculture with it’s own language and social norms has evolved on imgur in its user base.

Reality is created by thinking, speaking, writing and sharing information with one another (Van Luyn, A. 2013). In an increasingly digital world, with so much information available, getting your point across quickly is essential. Imgur achieves this via using images with captions, which are called “memes”.

A meme is "an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture." (Dawkins, R. 1989). Imgur facilitates the sharing of images and memes between people and these memes reflect the current reality of the world through the language and concepts used.

People have a fundamental need to communicate, in order to develop and maintain relationships. People use language as a tool to facilitate this, culture and civilization itself is a result of language. (Tuan, 1991). But as technology progresses people are affected by “information overload” the phenomenon, where there is too much information to process, this has lead to the popularity of memes because information, culture, or jokes can be quickly communicated via picture and text, more quickly than traditional writing of the past.

 

Reference List

Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, Lecture 5: Narratives and Places [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http: learnjcu.edu.au

Tuan, Y. (1991). Language and the making of place: A narrative-descriptive approach. In Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 81(4), 684-696.

Dawkins, R (1989). The Selfish Gene (2 ed.). Oxford University Press, p. 192, ISBN 0-19-286092-5