I’m no prude. I can appreciate a dirty joke and I have been known to pepper certain conversations with four-letter words when I feel they are warranted. But there’s a time and a place, I think. Increasingly I think I may be alone.
Most of us in radio now have Twitter accounts. I have my own personal account under my name but many of my colleagues incorporate their station’s frequency or call letters into their Twitter ID. To me that says – screams, actually – keep it professional! So I’m often stunned by the language they use in their updates. F this and F that and that was so f-ing cool.
In my view, Twitter is like a several-times-daily newsletter of old. You would never, ever have sent out a newsletter saying a band was “f-ing awesome!” So why do it that way on Twitter? When business ventures are involved, my filter is up on high. I can only assume that the managers of these people are aware of their colourful approaches to language in front of clients and listeners and they don’t mind having their broadcast outlet represented this way. I guess I’m in the minority…again.
A recently published study shows that Canadians curse more often than the British or Americans. Now I will openly admit, that on occasion I will punctuate my statements or sayings with a variety of, what I feel at the time, appropriate curses, but not all the time. Unfortunately, language as with the written word is/has become increasingly informal, no matter what the situation or environment.
… member of the old fart club.