The power of a name.

The power of a name.

By Tenneal White

Roses smelling sweet?
(Florapedia, 2016)

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." (Crowther, ed., 2005).

As Shakespeare express’s, a name has a massive power in the way we think about things. If a rose was not called a rose would it still smell sweet? If twitter wasn’t called twitter, would twitter be the 328 million strong social network that it is? (Statista, 2017).

Whilst it may seem a name is just a name, as we have been discovering this week in the lecture and set readings, there is a moral dimension to speech as there is to physical action. Thus warm conversation between friends can make the place itself seem warm; by contrast, malicious speech has the power to destroy a place's reputation and thereby its visibility. (Tuan, 1991)

The power of naming is just one convention in which language is used to create place space and power. Words alone, used in an appropriate situation, can have the power to render objects, formerly invisible because unattended, visible, and impart to them a certain character: thus, a mere rise on a flat surface becomes something far more-a place that promises to open up to other places-when it is named "Mount Prospect." (Tuan, 1991)

On Twitter, the language is used to make members feel certain ways. For example, certain people, and certain tweets based on the language used can make you feel warm and welcome. Whereas some tweets based on the wording make you feel disconnected and distant.

Names and language also show the origin of a place, like the word mountain is not a mountain in any other language other than English, therefore even if you are in china if they word mountain is used, you know that there is some sort of English influence to that place. People who live in a place also have an effect over the naming of that place as well. For example, places in Australia have not only Aboriginal names and English influences, but also Scotish names, for example, Cairns, Ayr and Airlie Beach. (Kuttainean, 2017)

This is throughout twitter in that people who are from certain places or have been brought up in certain communities tweet certain things and show a certain genre throughout their twitter account. Certain words that mean something to one person mean different to others based on the space they are from.  

Where you are from and the narrative you lead certainly influences the language you use and the way you name and describe things and this is not only throught life, but also virtual networks. 

References

Kuttainean, V. (2017). BA1002: Our space; Networks, narratives and the making of place, week four notes [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/execute/displayIndividualContent?mode=view&content_id=_2855360_1&course_id=_84764_1 

Shakespeare, W. (n.d.). Shakespeare Quotes. Retrieved from Enotes: https://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/what-s-name-that-which-we-call-rose

Statista. (2017). Social Media and user generated content. Retrieved from STATISTA: https://www.statista.com/statistics/282087/number-of-monthly-active-twitter-users/

Tuan, Y.-F. (1991). Annals of the Association of American Geographers Vol. 81, No. 4. In Y.-F. Tuan, Annals of the Association of American Geographers Vol. 81, No. 4 (p. 684). Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 

Crowther, John, (Ed.). (2005). No Fear Romeo and Juliet. Retrieved August 17, 2017, from http://nfs.sparknotes.com/romeojuliet/