The Spread of Slang: Information Cascades and Diffusion
Articles
The Global Spread of American Slang, https://www.pbs.org/speak/ahead/globalamerican/slang/
How and Why Slang Spreads, http://danzarrella.com/slang/
The two articles essentially talk about the power of slang and how it can spread globally. One of the examples was how English slang words spread into non-native English speaking countries, where the words were assimilated into their native language, e.g. flipped out = ausgeflippt, flippato, and flippé. They also talk about the function of slang as cultural markers, alternatives for expressions that have no word to describe them, as well as the expansion of the meaning of certain slang words as it diffuses amongst people in different places.
We can see how the spread of slang relates to information cascades especially when we consider the benefits of adopting it. When it comes to slang, there are mostly direct benefits, i.e. benefits of aligning behavior with the crowd. For example, as with any language, if you use the same lexicon as other people do, you would be able to communicate your point more effectively. Also, if a lot of people have already adopted it, adopting it yourself would mean that you’d understand others better.
Most significant, however, is the connection between slang and information diffusion. Given a social network, each individual can either decide to adopt or not adopt the particular slang word. Like in the models we’ve studied in class, whether or not you adopt the slang word is determined by the other people you’re connected to and interact with. As described in the previous paragraph, slang also involves a coordination game: if two people adopt the same lexicon, they will each receive a positive payoff. Furthermore, it seems reasonable that each person also has a threshold above which they will adopt the slang word, i.e. if a certain fraction of their friends uses that slang word, they will too.
We can also think about the role of clustering. Really dense clusters that have little interaction with other clusters aren’t likely to share the same set of informal vocabulary. Of course, when it comes to a particular slang word, it’s also possible to increase the chances of it spreading, such as increased usage in popular media, usage in memes, an increase in the number of people using the social media platform from which the slang originated as well as other social platforms (to build more connections between the two platforms), etc.