Use of Setswana in social media
How effective is Setswana on social media? Can we afford to text in Setswana and economically so?
Social media has a special way of writing. It is made for quick texting, reading and response. Now imagine if you had to read essays or long texts on social media. You'd be bored.
Most of the opponents of the use of Setswana in social media argue that Setswana terms are long and thus, their sentences would be long and time consuming to both type and read. Others argue that the language, unlike English, cannot be shortened. Others say this has negative long-term effect on ability to construct Setswana sentences. To some point, we'd agree but the latter argument is also the case for English writing.
Let's consider some of the errors that we make in our social media platforms
Okokae? (where are you?). Should be, "O ko kae?"
Kemang? (who is it?). Should be, "Ke mang?"
Goreng? (why?). Should be, "Go reng?"
Ga keitse (I do not know). Should be, "ga ke itse"
Monna (slang for saying at my place). Should be, "mo nna"
Kerile (I said). Should be, "ke rile"
There are other mistakes we can think of but looking at it, these mistakes also show up when we have to be formal ( learners' school submissions or tests, governmental notices, newspaper ads, etc.)
Some of the errors noted above can create a brand new meaning than that which was intended. Consider the word kemang. It appears as if it's someone's name. Consider also monna. It would appear as if one is trying to say something about a man.
Proponents of the language say that today's technology allows the user to define their own terms in their phones. They argue that predictive text doesn't mean that another language cannot be defined. They say they are OK with their system language being English but when it comes to social media, they want to use Setswana. They argue that some words can be shortened and just like English, not all words or phrases can be shortened.
In arguing that spelling errors always occur, they argue this is nothing to do with the social media but user's competency in the writing of the language.
High school teachers also complain about the making up of Setswana words. They say that leaners have a tendency of combining words that do not need to be combined. The examples above are what they also complain about. So who is to to blame?
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