I have read and written variously over the years about people using artifacts as words to create their own languae of discourse within a community, such as the community of geologists or the community of tax lawyers. This articl in te Guardian reinforces that idea, describing community-specific jargon that emerges in Twitter communities. Though the article suggests this finding "seems to contradict the commonly held belief that users simply want to share everything with everyone" I've never really thought this to be the case; people want to share freely with their community. This is why copyright law is so pernicious when applied to these online communities (instead of to commercial use, to which it ought to be restricted). Copyright law intrudes right into the fabric of these communities and interrupts what are essenially private conversations. That's why people react with such anger.
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