The Power of Language

Language is an idea that many human beings take for granted, but without the use of language in a society, there would be chaos because no one would be able to understand one another. So language is a powerful tool that has been created and language can also be manipulated to persuade an audience or change their minds on a certain topic. Language is the method of communication between two or more people that use words to express thoughts or feelings to each other. The media is a social institution that lives off of the manipulation of language in the way that they present new ideas and concepts to our understanding. Through the media we gather different perceptions of things all around us, but only the things that they would want us to know because they do not tell us everything and sometimes they break up stories to add in details in order to make us think or feel a certain way. The five guidelines to language and communication are; to be accessible, to be clear, to be respectful, to be provocative and to be interesting. The majority of this generation do not tend to follow these guidelines either because they do not know how to or just because it is not in their personality to do so. Although, there are some individuals that do follow these guidelines without even knowing it probably because they like to spark up conversations and not be left in a moment of awkward silence. In the novel "1984" by George Orwell, the quote "War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength" is telling the people of this society how to think on these subjects. It is telling them that through war they will acquire peace when in reality it will only bring on more destruction. It is saying that all the right things to do are in fact the wrong things in the real world and it is being rhetorical. The language on social media is influencing us the same way by telling us if this trending celebrity said it, then it must be correct to use; but in reality celebrities get paid to say what other organizations and groups want the public to hear which may not always be true. The media introduces the world to propaganda and since the media has a strong presence in our society, this biased information is usually heard by most. Although, the information provided to the world may sometimes just be junk, some people may believe the false information that some media outlets provide to us.