WHEN (FILIPINO) TWEENERS SPEAK…..VIRTUALLY
TERESA PAULA DE LUNA
University of the Philippines, Department of Speech Communication and Theater Arts,
College of Arts and Letters,
Diliman, Quezon City 1101 Philippines,
Tel.: (+63)(2) 9818500 Fax: (+63)(2) 4344686 E.mail: tpdlph@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
At present the virtual world is a social space considered by some society members to be an
extension of the physical, face-to-face (ftf) social world. Through computer mediated
communication (CMC) we are able to simulate human interactions. Social relationships and
alliances are established and maintained as well. Online social networks are social settings where
we can examine this contention. It is a communication setting located on the Internet where anyone
and everyone can create and maintain social relationships. The proliferation of various social
groups that intermingle in virtual spaces is evidence that online networking sites are already
regarded as communicative spaces.
The tweeners (pre-teens) set is one kind of social group actively interacting and participating in this
social place. As a social group the tweeners most likely communicate differently compared to
adults. It is interesting to discover how this “difference” is manifested in the online social world.
Do they communicate similarly in this space compared to the ftf society? Is there a special speech
employed, influenced and inspired by this type of communicative space? These are queries focused
on in this initial exploration of the Filipino tweeners’ online language. The social performative
drama staged by the tweeners on an online social network was the primary data. Analysis of
findings looked into the context of the conversations and discussions conducted initiated and
participated in by the respondents in their specific virtual speech community. The current most
popular online social network Facebook is the online space where this study attempted to make
sense of the tweeners’ online speak.
Key words: online communicative discourse, speech community, dramatistic pentad, facebook, culture change, tweeners