The Evolution Of Language

Any discussion about how language has evolved shouldn’t be centered on syntax, linguistics or semantics, but instead focus on ability, prevalence and - wait for it - speed.

Language by nature is about communication. Using it provides us with the capability to convey information, persuade, dissuade, critique, praise, inspire and subjugate. Words we create, therefore, aren’t just symbols, but are tools to be wielded in shaping the things we want to shape.

Technology has blazingly increased our ability to use our “tools.” As we humans have progressed into who we are today, we have developed a wide range of tools to communicate. In the span of about 32,000 years we’ve gone from cave paintings to Twitter and ChatRoulette. It's a short amount of time considering the earth is some 4.5 billion years old.

At no time in recorded history have we had more actual means of communicating. We can speak, write, print, mail, call, email, text, blog, use carrier pigeons, sign, IM/SMS, tweet and record videos or audio pieces with ease and often carelessness. If you are not communicating like a madman you are either physically incapable of doing so or avoiding the matter altogether.

Globalization has helped spread technology and has brought us closer together, so currently the all-encompassingness (my word) of communication has grown in ways we couldn't have predicted. Go to any site where users leave comments or organize a forum, and you will plainly see the fervent way people are talking to, or at, one another in little boxes. It's mind-boggling what people are saying without second thought.

Everyone is talking, no matter where they are on the planet—or in some cases, even if they’re not on the planet. Everyone has something to say.

And yet, while billions of people are trying to be individualistic, or something akin, everyone still finds themselves into cliques—hockey fans, sewing enthusiasts, Pattinson freaks, World of Warcraft-raiding parties, et al —and this fragmentation makes them easier for people like us to target.

What do we see out there? Folks freely chatting away about what they want and dislike. The current way of communicating has brought us to a place where we can listen and respond in real time. The speed by which we are able to talk back is astounding. Want to know what your best friend halfway around the world thinks of your shirt? MMS him a jpeg from your Blackberry and he can give you a sweet thumbs up or a big "WTF" in about two seconds.

Information can be reported instantaneously (there's that handy speed), anyone can disperse it likethat (a little ability) and it can spread quickly (thus prevalence). How has language—i.e., the way we communicate—evolved? We’re now punchier, abbreviated and singularly more influential. (An example.)

Our jobs as PR pros is the same as it always was. We still need to stay ahead of the trends, listen clearly and with an open mind, assess what's out there, strategize, convey, and implement, only now we just have to do it a bitch of a lot faster.

Change, shmange! The more I think about it, the only notable change brought about by these newer methods of talking is that it's now super hard for people like you and me to...wait for it!
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Richard Laermer is tweeting @laermer. Book is "2011: Trendspotting."