Some thoughts on a few
words that have different or additional meanings in the early
21st century. I have included the Macquarie Dictionary’s ‘common’ definition of these words for comparison. Where more than one definition exists I have tried to
list the one that seems most appropriate to the online/digital/new/additional definition.
stalk
– v.
‘to pursue or approach game, etc.’ Derived from the Old English stealcian – to move stealthily. Stalk generally
has perverse AFK connotations but has become almost acceptable online in the modern era. To stalk someone (esp. on
Facebook) can, these days, often be a legitimate forerunner to in-person
contact. In this sense, modern usage of stalk seems to have regressed closer to
the original meaning of the word: an AFK stalker often isn’t necessarily
‘stealthy’, because they make their presence known through letters, calling,
following closely etc., whereas stalking online indeed retains its surreptitious
element. Of course the online stalker often feels the need to make a confession
of their activity to a close friend, perhaps as a way to relieve a guilty
conscience.
friend
–
n. ‘Someone attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.’ The
Macquarie lists ‘friend’ as a noun but in contemporary reality (esp. since the
days of Myspace) it can also be used as a social media verb, as in: ‘I friended them’.
Although English already has a verb for this (to befriend) it seems needlessly
formal and unsuitable for the fleeting and/or typically nominal nature of
Facebook friendship. Also note the addition of a new verb; unfriend, officially used by Facebook (and not listed by the Macq.).
It’s worth mentioning that Facebook uses the terminology ‘add as friend’, that is,
the ability to perform an action and add someone
to the stock of your friendship pools. Friendship thus is robbed of the
often gradual relationship construction that occurs in real life; there are no grey-area
‘I know of them’ acquaintances on Facebook. The distinction is binary:
you’re either friends or you’re not.
follow
–
v. ‘to watch the movements, progress, or course of.’ Macq. doesn’t provide the
online version of follow in its Twitter sense, that is, to subscribe to
somebody’s feed. In terms of social media, following exists somewhere between
stalking and friendship. Follow and friend have similar uses as a verb but
different connotations: ‘following’ somebody is much less intimate and
professes no personal relationship with that person, but to follow someone is a
much more transparent act than stalking them. Also, like Facebook, Twitter has
introduced ‘unfollow’ into the vocabulary.
cloud
– n.
‘a visible collection of particles of water or ice suspended in the air,
usually at an elevation above the earth's surface ... [or] any similar mass’. In
the 21st century the word refers to the cloud,
the mass of data particles accessible by users, a great cloud hovering above, at any time threatening to rain bits and bytes upon us. Just like its
meteorological cousin, the cloud
appears to exist and is technically definable but cannot be physically grasped.
However, unlike meteorological clouds, the user (i.e. us) performs an important part of cloud formation by sending particles up instead
of passively receiving precipitation. The printed Macq. doesn’t define cloud in
its computer sense, but does note the phrase ‘to have one’s head in the clouds’
as being ‘divorced from reality; be in a dreamlike state’ which, when
considering the 1000-yard stare of smartphone and tablet users on public
transport, arguably comes close.
search
– v.
‘to go or look through carefully in seeking to find something’. It’s a well-known
observation that the term ‘google’ (no caps, generic trademark rules apply) is used interchangeably with ‘search’
these days, but I don’t think they are truly synonymous. To google something seems
almost fleeting, an act of speed. ‘I’ll google it,’ means to find a quick
answer to binary questions, such as ‘Where is the bar?’ or ‘Who is the
President of Guatemala?’ To my mind, ‘searching’ implies more in-depth
techniques to resolve questions which may ultimately be unanswerable or have
multiple answers: one googles the address of a particular bar but searches for a place that serves
half-price Martinis on a Wednesday night.
stream
–
n. ‘a body of water flowing in a channel or bed, as a river rivulet or brook’ or ‘a continuous flow or succession of
anything.’ Part of the beauty of a natural stream is the tension of knowing that
it is potentially finite; the data stream, however, seems assured, continuous,
unending—there is no beauty, mystery or tension. These days online streams seem to have been replaced by deluges, e.g. check your Twitter deluge. Stream can also be used as a
verb in the internet sense, as in to tap into data, to take (usually for free)
and redirect it for your own personal gains, à la AFK practices of damming or
redirecting natural streams for energy/moneymaking purposes.
window
– n.
‘an opening in the wall or roof ... commonly fitted with a frame in which are
set movable sashes containing panes of glass.’ The act of using the computer is
itself looking through the window of the screen, which is then (even on a Mac)
divided into further windows which can also be looked through. We are in effect
looking through a window to see more windows, and while the screen is generally
inert and inflexible the windows in the window are moveable, resizeable—able to
be opened and closed at whim to let through information/data/thoughts/feelings. These windows are easy enough to
open but can be difficult to shut.
