Our dear friend, Social Media: You've made us laugh, cry, take pictures of our food and even add hashtags to sentences irrelevant to Twitter. But are you making us, particularly females, more aggressive?
According to recent research, the answer is yes. Marie Clair of the UK's Plain English Campaign told the Daily Mail that today's young people are more forward due to the new technologies and social media networks they've been exposed to.
"Those fast communication channels of Facebook, email and Twitter [that] they've grown up with mean they haven't got as much time to deliberate and choose their words," Clair said. "That's perhaps why they come across as being more aggressive...Curtness tends to be short, sharp and to the point. But it's a fine line between being curt or aggressive and being straightforward."
It makes sense that straight-forward speech has made its way to the frontlines of communication, especially due to sites such as Twitter that only allow 140 characters per post. But the Daily Mail has labeled this phenomenon "worrying," as it makes females appear too aggressive.
Clair explained that because girls "communicate more than males," they have been most indicative of the trend. But if the past repeats itself, it's likely that men will catch on as well.
This is because girls tend to be on the innovative forefront when it comes to communicative trends. According to the New York Times, woman and girls deserve more credit for "pioneering vocal trends and popular slang." Trends such as "vocal fry," a deep, creaky voice (think Ke$ha), and uptalk, emphasizing the end of a sentence with a higher pitched, question-like tone (I don't sound like Kim Kardashian?), have both originated from female speech. However, these patterns have made their way into male speech patterns as well.
As far as females being "too aggressive" due to texting and social media, there are two sides to every story. Perhaps, if history does repeat itself, the new speech trend will open doors to more direct, concise conversation from both sexes. Either way, husbands and boyfriends can let out a sigh of relief - maybe she'll actually tell you what she wants for her birthday, and quit pulling the "you don't have to get me anything" card. We all know how that ends.
What do you think about the blunt speech trend? Is social media to blame? Share your thoughts.