Phatic

I learned this new word today: phatic.  It means "to denote or relate to language used for general purposes of social interaction, rather than to convey information or ask questions."  I love that the dictionary uses "hello, how are you?" as an example of it.  Because the truth is, most of us are completely uninterested in how you are when the question is asked.

Currently, a fascinating trend of "phatic language" is happening in our culture because of Facebook, etc...and someone wrote a dissertation about it!  It turns out that social media has significantly reshaped phatic language and the way we use it.  What is fascinating about this study is that it shows that "information-less" posts are not meaningless.  These random status updates and dinner photos are an increasingly important part of our current public discourse and expression of emotion.

It turns out that "phatic communication" keeps people better connected with one another and represents an increasingly important aspect of social interactions, especially now that so much of one's community is online and not just in the place where one lives.

Of course, there is one person who saw the meaning in phatic language without writing a dissertation on it (although he did have a PhD in psycholinguistics).  How ARE you, Tobias Funke?