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Language change has traditionally been driven by the geographic and social barriers separating populations. However, the rise of mass media (radio, television) and the internet in the 20th century has significantly reduced the impact of these boundaries.

This raises the question: How do modern media, particularly the internet, influence language evolution? With the internet, people worldwide can communicate, potentially leading to reduced regional variations within a language due to widespread exposure to a common form, and the creation of new online dialects or slang due to internet-specific communication styles.

While radio and television have been around for a while, the internet's influence is relatively new.

Are there existing studies on the impact of radio and television on language and on the internet's specific influence on language evolution, particularly in English?

I'm particularly interested in how these media forms affect the English language. Additionally, I want to ask for references to studies on the topic of the effect of media on languages. I believe that there may be such references given that radio and TV have existed for 100 and 70 years respectively, which I think is a time span long enough for a study of language change.

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    This question is probably too broad. Could you try making it more specific?
    – curiousdannii ♦
    Commented Jul 10 at 0:46
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    @curiousdannii Can you explain why do you see it as " too broad" so that I can be more specific?
    – pie
    Commented Jul 10 at 0:48
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    You could use Google Scholar to search. scholar.google.com/…
    – Xanne
    Commented Jul 10 at 7:58
  • This question is similar to: Globalized mass-media deterring language or dialects differentiation. If you believe it’s different, please edit the question, make it clear how it’s different and/or how the answers on that question are not helpful for your problem.
    – Sir Cornflakes
    Commented Aug 15 at 9:15

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Not really much of an answer, but more topics to look into that will (hopefully) guide you in the right direction.

  • Firstly, the introduction of major languages to more people. Many people improve and tune their language skills through media, when previous to such, it was only possible by more direct methods. That was not always possible, especially for the lower classes.
  • Secondly, The emergence of new dialects for every language. Before, dialects of a language would not mix much, but with the advances in modern communication, new dialects, formed by outside influences splitting larger dialects, have formed. One could say that the opposite has happened, that a major dialect that transcends all has formed in many languages, but I feel like (you might want to research into this one) that the former, as a force, is larger than the latter.
  • Lastly, the emergence of a language subculture online, in the form of texting slang, Stealing words from other languages that match the expression needed, etc. turning into an alternative language for the internet-influenced generations.

I could say a lot more, but I hope this serves as a guide for now. I hope this helps.

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