International Internet Language Day
International Internet Language Day
Why Adding International To Your Header Does Nothing To Your Content
Another Monday, Another Naive Weekly - Curated stories on Technology and Internet Culture.
You probably didn’t know that last week it was the International Mother Language Day. At least I didn’t. I also didn’t know that the UN General Assembly has declared 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages.
There are around 7,000 spoken languages in the world. A staggering 30-40% of those languages are in danger of dying and less than 1% are actively represented online.
Happy Monday!
While more than 2,000 languages are dying, new are emerging. If anyone asked me what is the language of the internet, I’d probably say emoji. In just 20 years it has gone from simple squares with 12 pixels in one color, to including more than 3,000 emoji and the pivotal work, Emoji Dick.
There are millions of articles on how to clear our browser history, but in reality I’d say the most private on our phone is our recently used emoji. Is it full of broken hearts, laughing tears or T-Rex?
If you wanna test me, try to share your recently used emoji with me and I’ll make a guess on who you are and what is up in your life. And if this is too radical, maybe look at the sanity of humanity on this constantly updating list of most used emoji on Twitter.
Do You Speak Emoji?
The title for this article is one of the best I’ve seen in a long time: “Emoji are showing up in court cases exponentially, and courts aren’t prepared”. It is not surprising that there is a stark increase in the number of emoji being used as evidence in the courtroom. However, judges are not ready to decide on the meaning of the 3,053 emoji.
Judges might soon receive help in analysing emoji. Ian Bogost takes us back to the origin of emoji and shows how emoji has developed from pictograms to becoming pictures. In this process our abstract meaning of emoji might transform to more literal and specific uses. If we should call a spade a spade, soon an eggplant will be an eggplant.
This is the tale of two friends who wondered why dumplings, one of the most universal dishes in the world, did not have an emoji. It is also the tale of who decides what emoji we should be made and the long selection process for adding a new emoji.
Five Stories on Technology and Internet Culture
$30M = Fortnite World Cup Prize Money
Epic continues to push the boundary for the gaming world with Fortnite. This week they announced a $30M prize pool for the forthcoming Fortnite World Cup.
Make sure to read this story on your mobile. It is about a guy who uses Tinder to con people for money. The story is told for phones, and it is told well so.
Eel on Musk hosting Meme Review
Speaking of internet languages it is hard not to think of Felix Kjellberg, better known as Pewdiepie. No one speaks meme better than him. This week in Felix’ ongoing battle to remain the most subscribed channel on YouTube, he got help from Elon Musk and Justin Roiland (Rick and Morty creator). Elon and Justin went on to host “Meme review”, a weekly show where Felix reviews memes, often sourced from his subreddit with 1.2M active readers.
92 percent of toddlers under the age of 2 already have their own unique digital identity. That is insane. And makes me wonder what to think about Olympia Ohanian who turns two this year and already have 38.7k followers on Twitter (And her doll has 20.9k followers).
This is the Dumbest Op Ed I’ve Read in a While
Last week the internet widely shared Harvard Business School professor Adam Grants’ article urging everyone to reply to everyone and not ignoring any email. Usually I’m fond of Adam’s thinking, but on this matter I think Mark Suster’s response with “This is the Dumbest Op Ed I’ve Read in a While” is spot on.
Thank you Nikolaj
Hi, I’m Kristoffer and I’m one of the founders of co-matter. You just read Naive Weekly - Curated stories on Technology and Internet Culture.
Last week Nikolaj decided to become a paying subscriber of this newsletter. It sounds like a small deal, but it surely helped me getting up 6AM this morning to put some thinking into the newsletter after a rather abstract week.
The newsletter now has two paying subscribers, Nikolaj and Dries. There are absolutely no extra benefits for them to pay, so it is just a kind reminder of how amazing the internet and people also can be.
<3
K