For Rare Languages, Social Media Provide New Hope (fwd link)

[Oliver Stegen]

Whether a "rare language" benefits from social media or not depends on a 
number of factors. In his paper "A framework for measuring the presence 
of minority languages in cyberspace", Maik Gibson at the 3rd 
International Conference on Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in 
Cyberspace in Yakutsk, 28 June to 3 July, 2014, gave a good overview of 
the issue (cf 
https://www.academia.edu/7503946/A_framework_for_measuring_the_presence_of_minority_languages_in_cyberspace).
Fwiw,
Oliver

On 31-Jul-14 2:23 AM, Andrew Cunningham wrote:
> Although at the same time social media provides unique challenges for 
> languages that use lesser used writing scripts.
>
> Andrew
>
>
> On 31 July 2014 07:43, Phil Cash Cash <weyiiletpu at gmail.com 
> <mailto:weyiiletpu at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     *For Rare Languages, Social Media Provide New Hope*
>
>     By LYDIA EMMANOUILIDOU
>     Originally published on Sat July 26, 2014 6:59 pm
>
>     At a time when social media users, for no particularly good
>     reason, are trading in fully formed words for abbreviations
>     ("defs" instead of "definitely"), it may seem that some languages
>     are under threat of deterioration — literally.
>
>     But social media may actually be beneficial for languages.
>
>     Of the estimated 7,000 languages that are spoken around the world,
>     UNESCO projects half will disappear by the end of the century. But
>     social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter are in a
>     position to revitalize and preserve indigenous, minority and
>     endangered languages, linguists and language-preservation
>     activists say.
>
>     One of the reasons some indigenous languages are endangered is
>     that increased connectivity through the Internet and social media
>     have strengthened dominant languages such as English, Russian and
>     Chinese, says Anna Luisa Daigneault of the Living Tongues
>     Institute for Endangered Languages.
>
>     Endangered languages stand a greater chance of survival when they
>     are used online.
>
>     "Having a Web presence for those languages is super important for
>     their survival. Social media are just another connection point for
>     people who want to stay connected to their language," says
>     Daigneault, Latin America projects coordinator and development
>     officer at the institute.
>
>     ​Access full article below:
>     http://wkms.org/post/rare-languages-social-media-provide-new-hope​
>
>
>
>
> -- 
> Andrew Cunningham
> Project Manager, Research and Development
> (Social and Digital Inclusion)
> Public Libraries and Community Engagement
> State Library of Victoria
> 328 Swanston Street
> Melbourne VIC 3000
> Australia
>
> Ph: +61-3-8664-7430
> Mobile: 0459 806 589
> Email: acunningham at slv.vic.gov.au <mailto:acunningham at slv.vic.gov.au>
> lang.support at gmail.com <mailto:lang.support at gmail.com>
>
> http://www.openroad.net.au/
> http://www.mylanguage.gov.au/
> http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/

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