Facebook recently received a patent for software that can craft a slang dictionary, based on the terms that appear on the social network.
By scanning the comments and posts, the software will be able to detect unique words and short phrases that mean something very specific to different groups of people. To simplify, Facebook wants to predict and archive slang before it gets mainstream.
Users who share specific attributes, such as location and language, will have their content filtered. This will allow for specific words to stand out.
The new words, which are called neologisms, are fresh additions to the spoken language that start from a limited social or cultural area and (eventually) spread to general use. For example, "rad" was a term from the '80s term that stood for "radical" and implied that something is awesome. Using "sick" as a positive attribute is another case of slang that permeated into mainstream culture.
Newer slang includes "digital detox," "noob," "swag" and "lumbersexual."
Facebook's attempt to see and catalog the new words could have two reasons. First, the company saw a decrease in the number of young users recently and it's making efforts to keep its audience hooked to the platform. Second, it wants to better understand smaller groups, so it can pellet them with targeted ads.
After the software determines that a neologism fits the criteria, it will add it to a glossary of terms. Should a certain word lose its traction and popularity, it leaves the list.
Looking at the patent filing, it seems that user polls could cause words to be added to the glossary.
It is currently hard to see how the glossary will be used, but similar libraries such as Urban Dictionary come to mind. The patent filing notes that an interface could be implemented to engage users who want to make additions and modifications to the new terms.
Governmental agencies also looked into the opportunity of creating a glossary of slang terms.
Two years ago, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation finished its own 83-page dictionary of commonly used slang on social media websites. Twitter, due to its restricted characters per message, is a prolific environment for such words.
The Bureau explained that understanding how hackers speak could lead to superior protection measures.
