when tu > vous (or usted)

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BBC on the second person address on the interweb, specifically usage of the informal “tu” vs. the formal “vous” on Twitter.

Social networking sites such as Twitter take this one step further, adopting codes “characterised by a heightened sense of emotional proximity”, such as friending on Facebook, he says.

Twitter, meanwhile, follows on from a long line of internet forums where users could be anonymous.

“In the philosophy of the internet, we are among peers, equal, without social distinction, whatever your age, gender, income or status in real life,” Besson says.

Addressing someone as “vous” – or expecting to be addressed as “vous” – on the other hand, implies hierarchy.

There are poignant comments on the article.

scott caver

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Miami Herald on the Scott Carver Homes. Suburban development by the government (Miami-Dade County Public Housing and Community Development; McCormack Baron Salazar).

…the $84?million development, which straddles Northwest 22nd Avenue from 75th Street south to the Florida East Coast rail tracks, will be dotted with playgrounds, a community center with a swimming pool, a gym and a computer lounge.

It’s no longer a housing project, but a publicly subsidized, privately built and managed development with scaled rents depending on income.

 

Let’s banish terms like “urban core” and “inner city”.