In today’s society, the expression 'to google' has gained a universal understanding through the development of the internet. Furthermore, since the 1990s the breakthrough of the internet in our daily lives has marked the development of internet slang. This slang includes letter homophones (such as LOL and BTW), punctuation and symbols (such as capitalized letters, strings such as ?!?!?!!??) and onomatopoeic spellings (such as “hahahaha” or “jajajaja” in Spanish). This slang has allowed us to put our ideas together and cooperate with ease in the virtual worlds of computers. However, is the web evolving language too quickly? Moreover, is everyone able to follow?
This question was brought to my attention during my visit to San Francisco, CA. More specifically, 
when my family and I were visiting the corporate campus of Google in Silicon Valley. During this visit, my sister and I were approached by two Google Research Developers, who invited us to review one of their new prototypes. As excited as we were, they guided us to the ‘Google Accessibility Center.' In this center, there are different labs in which they interview a diverse audience to gain knowledge about the strengths and weaknesses of a developing product. As the product is part of Google’s property, I had to sign a confidentiality agreement so I am not allowed to discuss the concept and ideas of the product itself. However, I can say that the overall experience intrigued and questioned my knowledge on the importance and intertwined relationship between technology and the effect of even the smallest details in communication through both language and visuals in the 21st century.
During this reflection, I stumbled upon a BBC article called “How the internet is changing language” by Zoe Kleinman. In this article, honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Bangor, David Crystal, stated that “Language itself changes slowly, but the internet has speeded up the process of those changes, so you notice them more quickly… It is like any badge of ability, online you show how brilliant you are by manipulating the language of the internet.” Users of the web have therefore created different slangs of languages, such as super slang, leetspeak, and most commonly text speak. The introduction of these new words in a language is always opposed by some individuals. However, some critics argue that it simply follows the characteristics of typical slang. Professor Crystal, for example, stated that it is too early to fully evaluate the impact of technology on language as the phenomenon is only around 20-30 years old. In my opinion, I believe that language is evolutionary, and that it will be inevitable to attempt preventing this phenomenon from happening. While technology is speeding up this process, we must acknowledge that it allows for a greater understanding and further communication amongst a community. Whether the language used is inherent or intentional, language develops a person’s theory of mind. Moreover, while technology may evolve language at a faster rate than before, it is crucial to remind ourselves that language allows us to further define our stable and dynamic identity shaped by communication and culture. Through this experience, I have realized that our language is advancing in directions in which we become more reliant on visuals, symbols, and graphics. I found it fascinating to realize that even the smallest detail of an image or symbol on our screen can change our interpretation of a visual. Therefore, I firmly believe that while language may be rapidly changing through technology for good or for worse, we are steadily advancing into an era in which new communication systems are developed. This will not only allow all members of society, including individuals with vision, auditory or motoric impairment, to be able to communicate as a whole, but also allow language barriers to be broken. 