Babytalk and the Power of the Internet

Want to know what the real power of the Internet is? Try this little experiment.

Make up a word for something else - your very own slang form synonym. You know, just as a "grip" is a long time, a "ride" is a car, or, "I'm hip!" means... well, hip. Anyway, take your word, and go onto the blogosphere, and online directories, and chat rooms - definitely hit the chat rooms - and use the new word liberally in posts. Interject it into appropriate Wikipedia entries. Create web pages about the related subject matter, and place the phrase at will. If you're really hardcore, you can do a press release where the word is used in context several times. You see, there is a whole other aspect to social media that no one has realized yet: It is now possible to actually create additions to common speech if you feel like it. Most people now know what "LOL" or "n00b" mean from years of instant messaging. Soon we could see a laundry list of new words as the result of simple branding, ("I need to go Google that,") or, cynical conspiracy. Like I'm planning. See, my new slang term will be "simian," to be used to mean a successful, strenuous workout. That way, when a weightlifter staggers into the room, they can announce, "I'm really feeling simian today," or more likely, "Dude - I'm SIMIAN! AAAAAAGH!" And I think that will be brilliant.

About the Author: Eric Reid

I am the Social Media Services Manager for Off Madison Ave. I've been with the company since 2006, when I was hired to do SEO, and link building in particular. When social networking sites started cropping up, at first I started using them to create backlinks - but they weren't the best for that, given all of the "nofollow" attributes. However, I did see the potential for all of the direct referral traffic they represent. Since then I've been actively pursuing both tactics for clients: Links that can help them for search, and social postings that get them involved in the conversation. It's about the coolest job you could ever get. ;)

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