A recent study reveals that individuals who are more connected within their social media networks are more likely to have the new words they introduce accepted into common usage.
According to a fresh study published this week in PLOS Complex Systems by Louise Tarrade from École Normale Supérieure in France, those who have central connections in their social media networks are more inclined to see the new words they use becoming part of mainstream language.
Language changes and develops within a social framework, with various forms of a language competing against each other. While new words are regularly coined in everyday language, not all of them manage to endure.
In this study, researchers examined over 650 million tweets in French from 2012 to 2014, identifying 400 new words that emerged on the social platform X (originally known as Twitter) during that timeframe. They subsequently monitored how these words spread over the next five years and investigated the positions and connections of users who embraced these terms.
The findings revealed that the initial users of new terms, referred to as “lexical innovations,” share similarities, irrespective of whether these new terms ultimately thrive as part of the language or merely serve as fleeting fads. However, notable distinctions emerged during the subsequent spread of these innovations. On average, words that gained long-lasting traction were utilized by individuals who held more central roles within their communities, showing a prolonged low-level circulation before entering a phase of growth (18.5 months of circulation compared to 6.5 months for fads). In contrast, words that became short-lived trends were adopted by users with lesser centrality in their networks, displaying rapid usage increases followed by swift declines.
The researchers stated, “Our investigation on lexical innovations spans millions of social media users. We demonstrate that words embraced by those who are more centrally positioned in their communities—and who have easier access to other communities—are more likely to take root in the language, and the opposite is also true. Therefore, the position of speakers within the network who adopt these words is a reliable predictor of their survival.”
The authors further noted, “Exploring sociolinguistics through digital data and computational approaches allows us to broaden our understanding and uncover social dynamics on a larger population scale.”
