Congratulations Tumblrs, Livejournalers, and anyone with a vlog! Webster's New World Dictionary has announced "overshare" as 2008's Word of the Year! In case you are unaware, by definition, to "overshare" is:
(v/n) to divulge excessive personal information, as in a blog or broadcast interview, prompting reactions ranging from alarmed discomfort to approval.The verb (which can also be used as a noun) beat out four other Word of the Year contenders, including: "leisure sickness," "cyberchondriac," "selective ignorance" and "youthenasia". With "cyberchondriac" (a hypochondriac who imagines that he or she has a particular disease based on medical information gleaned from the Internet) and "selective ignorance" (the practice of selectively ignoring distracting, irrelevant, or otherwise unnecessary information received, such as e-mails, etc.), and the winner, 3/5s of this year's nominees were related to Internet culture.
Oversharing is not only the Internet's best friend, but it has also crossed over into IRL culture -- even spawning its own abbreviated comeback, in the form of "TMI" (or "Too Much Information"). As as resonse, TMI is part of the immense backlash against oversharing, which many people think should be left on the web.
Webster's conducted a mini poll a little in our very own backyard, Washington Square Park in New York City. Where were we? Come on, Webster's, we love to overshare!
What do you think? How much I is TMI? And who knew Webster's was so cool?
- link:// Webster's New World Word of the Year
- related:// The Compulsive Oversharers of the Internet: A Field Guide - Gawker






























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12.26.08
By Gerard
Here are some I invented!
Projarcissism- projecting your Narcissism onto someone else. 'kissing butt' would be a synonym of this.
Slandercom- Getting slandered either righteously or not-so-much, on a dot.com site.
Splinternet- What you feel/experience after being Slandercommed!
Wish I could have had a shot at the 'making up new words' contest! I have some really good ones.. hopefully next year :)
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12.23.08
By richard liscio
you folks have to be kidding. all this fuss and commotion over "the word of the year." how about getting a real job.
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