[Air-L] Question: Likeconomy and the [digital] verbing of nouns

[Satarupa Joardar]

Hi Ravi,

It's always interesting to know what things keeps academics up at night! I
can't do anything to clarify your question but here's a video from Stephen
Fry about language and pedants where he talks about nouns becoming verbs
and how the practice goes back to Shakespeare.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7E-aoXLZGY&feature=player_embedded#!

Enjoy!

Satarupa Joardar
PhD Candidate in Language, Literacy and Culture Program
University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
satarupajoardar at umbc.edu

On Thu, Apr 19, 2012 at 10:09 AM, Ravindra N. Mohabeer <
mohabeerlists at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I know this area has received attention in print which I will be reading
> in the coming weeks but I have a question, mostly out of curiosity.
>
> Last night as I couldn't sleep I wondered about the verbing of nouns that
> is so much more common these days - e.g. googling, friending, trending,
> etc. - and also about what I imagine must be called the 'like-economy'
> which in my mind contracts to the likeconomy.
>
> While this has happened at other times historically I wondered whether
> there isn't a passivity inherent in this verbing, or making an object into
> an action, that has implications both for our understanding of and outcomes
> associated with the digitality of the current collective mind? Does making
> say google into an action defer the underlaying energy to the algorithms
> that were discussed on this list this week, or does trending suggest that
> the wave or flow of popularity makes something important whether or not
> that momentum is built of clever psychological prodding or actual will to
> action (curiosity rather than interest like Gustov Le Bon's psychic
> contagion)?
>
> I'm not really sure if this makes sense but it is a question that I wonder
> if anyone can help me make sense of so I can know where to start my reading.
>
> Please and thank you,
> Ravi
> .....................................................
> Ravindra N. Mohabeer, PhD
> Media Studies
> Vancouver Island University
> Nanaimo, BC  CANADA
> V9T 5S5
> ravindra.mohabeer at viu.ca
> .....................................................
>
> _______________________________________________
> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
> http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
>
> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> http://www.aoir.org/
>