Linguistics in Social Media: An Analysis on the Writing Conventions of Students’ Blog Posts

Abstract

This study analyzed the writing conventions of students’ blog posts as to mechanics, usage, and sentence formation. The blog entries of college students taking a language class served as the sources of data in this mixed-methods study. Content analysis was used in order to determine the errors in the text. Each sentence was analyzed to identify the errors committed by the students. These were then categorized according to the indicators found in the framework. The quantitative data were treated using the frequency and percentage of the errors committed by the students. The mechanics category had the highest number of errors, according to the findings. The errors made by the students as to mechanics were in punctuation, capitalization, and spelling; on usage, they were in verb tense, word order, and S-V agreement; and on sentence formation, they were in simple, compound, and complex sentences. The act of writing is incredibly difficult and requires adhering to the correct grammar rules, selecting the right words, utilizing the correct punctuation, and organizing ideas into the appropriate sentences. This study suggested that the language teacher may offer power point games, worksheets, and online games on verb tenses; students may trade assignments with their peers so that they can proofread one another's entries; and students may be given an infographic on "Writing Online: Improving Writing Skills through Blogging" to help them identify the typical mistakes made while writing online and advice on how to avoid them.