Language, CMC, WoW and thesis

At the behest of my thesis adviser, I’m going to write entries on the progression of my thesis. I’m hoping this exercise will encourage others to leave comments or post links to additional resources.

My thesis involves language development in a virtual environment. I’m investigating a link between language use/creation and computer mediated environments. In short, I’m looking at the impact of technology on language. So if anyone knows anything of etymology, computer usage statistics, impact of computers on life and communication, or anything pertaining to some crazy mix of those categories, I’d love to hear about it.

My study focuses on people that play World of Warcraft (WoW). This population is an excellent group to study, as all communication in this game world takes place through computer mediated communication (CMC).

CMC is anything where a digital interface acts as an intermediary between two parties. Text messages, e-mail, chat rooms and Twitter are all examples of CMC use. Since WoW players typically use a keyboard to send in-game messages to each other, I’m focusing on language use in the WoW CMC environment.

I’ll post the introduction to my thesis once approved by my professors. I think that will give everyone a good idea of what I’m working on.