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Key points
- Findings show that oprating within English-language-dominated social media undermines the health and social vitality of minority groups.
- “Ethnolinguistic vitality” refers to how minority linguistic communities maintain presence when operating within a majority linguistic setting.
- Cymraeg-speaking pupils demonstrated a stronger association between social media use and lower self-esteem than primary-English speakers.
The future of the Welsh language (Cymraeg), and the psychological health of Cymraeg speakers, may be threatened by social media. Recent findings show that using social media in a nonpreferred language may negatively impact personal and societal well–being. These findings have implications beyond Wales and Cymraeg and suggest that minority linguistic groups operating in the context of an English-language-dominated social media, indeed within a social media dominated by any nonpreferred language (like Standard Chinese in Tibet), may be having their personal health, and social vitality undermined.
“Ethnolinguistic vitality” refers to how minority linguistic communities maintain their presence and activity when they operate within a majority linguistic setting.1 A language’s ethnolinguistic vitality has traditionally depended on objective and subjective indicators, such as institutional and media support for it and its usage levels.1
When considering these markers in the real world, Cymraeg fares quite well. Approximately 25 percent of the population of Wales can communicate through Cymraeg. Cymraeg has formal legislative support within Wales and is one of two official languages in the country. The use of Cymraeg is supported through the education system in Wales, with Cymraeg-speaking schools being available, and it is represented within traditional media, such as TV and radio, with Cymraeg-speaking channels available.
However, the widespread impact of the digital world upon people’s lives introduces additional components that are important for the vitality of a language. In particular, it is essential to consider the online representation and active digital usage of a language when considering its present and future vitality.2
In fact, there is a significant Cymraeg presence within social media.3 For example, there are numerous active Cymraeg-oriented Facebook groups, each with relatively healthy numbers of members. However, this is only part of the story that needs to be told in regard to its digital vitality, and there are reasons to suggest that social media poses a severe threat to Cymraeg (as well as to other minority languages).
One immediate challenge is that online usage of Cymraeg often requires the adoption of English words, as these have adapted more quickly to new digital terminology and behaviours.4 The languages that are typically employed online are a product not only of linguistic confidence and competence but also of online social network opportunities.2,5
When the dominant language – in this case, English – has more active participants, members of the minority group often feel compelled to communicate using the majority language and are more likely to use English during online communications.2,3 Thus, it is important to understand that although Cymraeg speakers are quite active on social media, it does not necessarily imply any online Cymraeg dominance for that group.
Studies have shown that just as many primary Cymraeg speakers adopt purely English language online as they adopt purely Cymraeg or a mixture of both languages. Estimates suggest that around 40 percent of primary-Cymraeg speakers switch to English when on Facebook.2 This implies that while there are opportunities for online Cymraeg usage, primary-Cymraeg speakers and bilinguals do not always take advantage of these opportunities.4 When this is considered, the digital vitality of Cymraeg might actually be weaker than the real-world model would imply.1
Beyond the impacts on Cymraeg usage online, the actual or perceived threats against an individual’s cultural and linguistic identity, engendered by using a nonpreferred language, can negatively impact those individuals’ self-esteem.6,7 When primary Cymraeg speakers perceive a lack of opportunity to use their first language within social media, this can send a negative message concerning societal regard for Cymraeg.6
As primary-Cymraeg speakers do not invariably use the Welsh language on social media,3 their non-use of Cymraeg online might be considered a forced assimilative response,8 sending negative messages regarding the value of their primary language and their cultural heritage.6 Perceiving a devaluation of their language, culture, and community, those individuals’ self-esteem may accordingly suffer.
In fact, results of a study of over 800 social media-using adolescents in Wales,7 suggested that Cymraeg-speaking pupils demonstrated a stronger association between social media use and lower self-esteem than primary-English speakers.7 Additionally, lower self-esteem Cymraeg speakers were at greater risk of experiencing the negative impacts of social media dependency on depression, anxiety, and loneliness.
These data support the idea that using social media in a nonpreferred language has negative impacts on a range of aspects of psychological well-being. It may be that realising not all Cymraeg speakers use Cymraeg on social media reinforces the negative messages regarding the value of Cymraeg with respect to the wider society.
It could be argued that the impact on Cymraeg of an English-language-dominated social media in Wales is of limited significance. Wales has a population of a little over three million, and around 750,000 people identify as “Cymraeg able.” However, these findings may have much broader significance than for Wales.
Much research on the impact of support for “heritage languages” in ethnic minorities is based on individuals of Spanish and Chinese heritage residing in the United States. Other groups have received rather less attention – such as those of Native American heritage in the United States or of Tibetan heritage in China. This is not to equate the situation of Cymraeg speakers to these groups in all aspects (of course).
Nevertheless, for all of the above minority groups, the situation is different than it is for Spanish or Chinese heritage. There are large and vibrant existent cultures for these latter two groups, albeit elsewhere, maintaining languages and traditions – this is not the case for Cymraeg-speakers, Native Americans, or Tibetans. Certainly, preserving language has been of considerable importance in maintaining the cultural identity of Native American peoples.9 The current findings regarding the effects of digital usage on Cymraeg speakers may allow an understanding of these additional groups.
The upshot is that as social media companies become increasingly monolithic in their natures and more centralised and central to functioning, they exert powers over people’s real lives that have only begun to become apparent. Social media companies’ choices about languages – for instance, what features of apps will be available in which languages – can profoundly impact the psychological and societal well-being of minority groups. These considerations are just another example of the many reasons why we need to be vigilant concerning the effects of handing more control to digital companies.
References
1. Giles, H., Bourhis, R.Y., & Taylor, D.M. (1977). Towards a theory of language in ethnic group relations. In H. Giles (Ed.), Language, Ethnicity and Intergroup Relations. London: Academic Press.
2. Cunliffe, D., Morris, D., & Prys, C. (2013). Young bilinguals’ language behaviour in social networking sites: The use of Welsh on Facebook. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 18(3), 339-361.
3. Honeycutt, C. & Cunliffe, D. (2010). The use of the Welsh language on Facebook. Information, Communication and Society, 13(2), 226-248.
4. Cunliffe, D. (2019). Minority languages and social media. In G. Hogan-Brun & B. O’Rourke (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Minority Languages and Communities. Palgrave Macmillan, London.
5. Nguyen, D., Trieschnigg, D., & Cornips, L. (2015). Audience and the use of minority languages on Twitter. Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media, 9(1).
6. Brandt, E. (1988). Applied linguistic anthropology and American Indian language renewal. Human Organization, 47(4), 322-329.
7, Jones, R., Reppa, I. & Reed, P. (2022). Self-esteem and social media dependency: A structural equation modelling approach to comparing primary Welsh and non-Welsh speakers. Trends in Psychology.
8. Crystal, D. (2000). Language Death. Cambridge University Press.
9. Hoffman, A.J., Kurtz-Costes, B., & Shaheed, J. (2020). Ethnic-racial identity, gender identity, and well-being in Cherokee early adolescents. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology.
