Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language

I’m the author of Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language, a pop linguistics book in defense of internet language, which came out from Riverhead at Penguin on July 23, 2019 in the US and Canada and on October 3, 2019 from Harvill Secker (Random House) in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries that get UK editions of books. 

A linguistically informed look at how our digital world is transforming the English language.

Language is humanity’s most spectacular open-source project, and the internet is making our language change faster and in more interesting ways than ever before. Internet conversations are structured by the shape of our apps and platforms, from the grammar of status updates to the protocols of comments and @replies. Linguistically inventive online communities spread new slang and jargon with dizzying speed. What’s more, social media is a vast laboratory of unedited, unfiltered words where we can watch language evolve in real time.

Even the most absurd-looking slang has genuine patterns behind it. Internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch explores the deep forces that shape human language and influence the way we communicate with one another. She explains how your first social internet experience influences whether you prefer “LOL” or “lol,” why ~sparkly tildes~ succeeded where centuries of proposals for irony punctuation had failed, what emoji have in common with physical gestures, and how the artfully disarrayed language of animal memes like lolcats and doggo made them more likely to spread.

Because Internet is essential reading for anyone who’s ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message or wondered where memes come from. It’s the perfect book for understanding how the internet is changing the English language, why that’s a good thing, and what our online interactions reveal about who we are.

Order

You can buy Because Internet in person or on the website of your favourite local indie bookstore, or follow one of the links below:

You can buy signed copies through Argo Bookshop in Montreal, a fantastic indie bookstore which I keep stocked in signed copies if you happen to be in Montreal, and which is also happy to ship internationally, at your expense (just add a note when you check out if you want it personalized to a particular name!)

Or sign up for my monthly linguistics email newsletter to make sure you don’t miss any book news on social media and find out when a Because Internet event may be happening near you!

For full-resolution images and media contact information, see the Because Internet page on my website. 

Behind the scenes

For memes and behind-the-scenes snippets about Because Internet, I’ve compiled my best internet linguistics book tweets here. 

My editor is Courtney Young at Riverhead Books, and my agent is Howard Yoon at RossYoon Agency. 

Here are the blog posts I’ve written about the book back to 2015: 

  1. I’m writing a book about internet language!
  2. I have a (very rough) draft 
  3. I talked with The Ringer about why I’m lowercasing “internet” in the book
  4. I have a full draft, with chapters and paragraphs
  5. I’m moving from developmental edits into line edits (aka, from battling a horse-sized duck to battling a hundred duck-sized horses)
  6. The book is heading into copyedits! 
  7. BECAUSE INTERNET is available for preorder! 
  8. Galleys of BECAUSE INTERNET are arriving with reviewers
  9. An early review of BECAUSE INTERNET (“me reading this was basically galaxy brain”) 
  10. Thoughts from reading the audiobook of Because Internet: on pronouncing gif, lol, and keysmash
  11. BECAUSE INTERNET is officially out in the world! (classic tumblr version)
  12. BECAUSE INTERNET hits the New York Times bestseller list! 

This is the book for you if you’re worried that you don’t quite understand what people are up to on social media these days, or if you’re Extremely Online and you want help articulating the subtle nuances of your daily communication to people who don’t quite get it. You’ll also enjoy this book if you like thinking deeply about memes, emoji, or the future of communication.