I have long said that the social Media landscape  will eventually diverge.The East West divide will reassert itself and  in doing so, create a new ‘normal’.

One of the reasons is that of language.

Most western languages are phonetic, and meaning is derived from sounds and how they relate.

Mandarin however, and most older languages and their derivatives are pictographic rather than phonetic like English or most of the modern  languages. Meaning, is derived form the characters themselves.

These differences influence how one views the world and  interprets  communication on the internet.  Language is a foundational cornerstone of culture and with social media being the primary vehicle for the creation of culture in this age, we shall see how it plays out.