I'm going to punch you in the face. *raises threatening fist*

Facebook and people's behavior on social networking sites never ceases to fascinate me. I want to discuss this strange form of communication that I have recently observed. Maybe I'm the only who finds it fascinating, but I'll tell you anyway. People are describing their physical reaction on their status updates as if we (the readers) need the description in order to fully understand the meaning of the post. I understand why people would want to attempt to describe their physical reactions and actions because tone can be difficult to read in a status update or tweet. I have had experiences where my sarcasm is not always read on Facebook and it did not end well. 

Perhaps you have come across this yourself. The description is written after or in between asterisks (*). For example, one would write, "I can't believe my boyfriend just kicked a puppy, *gasp*" or "omg. this club is lame and some lame guy is trying to hit on me *rolls eyes*" or "I'm so mad *stomps foot*." You get the point.

The language on social networking sites (particularly Facebook) is constantly being developed and built upon. Who comes up this stuff? Who decided that initialisms like ROFL (Rolling on the Floor Laughing) or SMH (Shaking my Head) should be used? Slang words are usually conceived by rappers, but who conceives Facebook lingo? Who decided that we should describe our physical actions in-between asterisks? I understand the occasional *sigh* or *grrrr* but add that to emoticons and initialisms and what we have is an entirely new language. The thing about language is that it is much more than just a set of words with definitions. Language carries a history and an entire culture and we use language to communicate and exchange knowledge. I am a big believer in that there should never be a set body of knowledge. Knowledge should constantly be challenged, changed and built upon and I guess one could argue that initialisms and asterisks on Facebook can be seen as contributing to the current body of knowledge. I find that a little disconcerting. We are throwing away full sentences and phrases and we are using silly descriptions like *smiles* and *hugs* to mimic face-to-face interaction without the intimacy of physically interacting with a human being. Mimicry is superficial and if we choose to only communicate on social networking sites, I believe that those relationships therefore, are superficial. 

As a student of Communication, I cannot help but wonder what linguists like Ferdinand de Saussure or Roland Barthes would say about how we currently communicate on Facebook. Perhaps it would look something like this:

"OMG. I can't believe how people communicate on here. It makes me so mad *grinds teeth.* People keep coming up with new acronyms and initialisms I am so confused @_@. Also, why do people feel like they need to tell me when they are hungry or sleepy? I don't care *rolls eyes.* I fear for the well-being of society because these are our future leaders. SMH. That is it. I'm quitting #facebook :P."

(P.S. This post is the result of too much caffeine and too much Facebooking.)