Social Networking Sites are having a clear impact on language.
The creation of social networking sites eg Facebook, Twitter, Instagram are responsible for some new words being created.
Selfie: Slang phrase used to describe a photo that is taken of oneself where the right or left arm is extended with the camera held backwards.
This analogism is commonly used on social networking sites, and a song has even been named after it.
Teenagers and technology have a role to play in the creation of analogies such as these.
Site specific slang is created on each social networking site.
"Selfie" is now in the English Dictionary - The denotation of Selfie in the English Dictionary is: noun (informal)
"a photograph taken by pointing a camera at oneself"
www.collinsdictionary.com
The word tweet has undergone broadening.
The word tweet originally referred to the sound that a bird makes however now refers to a short message posted on Twitter.
Follow - has undergone diachronic change as in the past it would have meant to physically follow someone in person however by clicking the follow button twitter it now means that their daily posts will be accessible on your home screen for you to view.
Twitter also created the analogism "hash tag" which is now used on other social networking sites such as Facebook and Instagram.
http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/Twitter_Dictionary_Guide.asp
Shows other coinages, analogisms and slang created directly by Twitter.
http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2014/06/social-media-changing-language/
An important element of Twitter syntax is the hash tag – a clickable keyword used to categorize tweets. Hash tags have also spread to other social media platforms – and they’ve even reached everyday speech.
Hash tags are now found all over popular culture, for example on greeting cards, tshirts and the dialogue of sitcom characters.
