Team CYB3RL4NG is an undergraduate research team that is part of the Gemstone Program at the University of Maryland. We are studying semantic change in mental health terms used online.
Research Question
Has the meaning of mental health terms changed over time online? Specifically, have these terms undergone semantic broadening?
Motivation
The internet has rapidly increased the flow of information from one person to another, and from one place to another. Language patterns are beginning to spread at faster rates than we could have ever predicted due to the growth of the internet.
As different uses of language spread more rapidly throughout the internet, we begin to see the popularization of different words and concepts to mainstream audiences. Wider populations have adopted political lingo, medical terms, and other jargon previously contained to small subsections of people. Yet, when complex concepts are introduced to a wider and more diverse range of people, are they able to maintain the weight and nuance of these topics?
Team CYB3RL4NG aims to explore this concept with mental health terminology coined by professionals in the field of psychology. Mental health is a topic that has gained prominence in popular discourse as of recent years, but as is the nature of the internet, these conversations become oversaturated through the constant flow of information. Certain concepts in psychological discourse become spread more and more widely, but the weight of these concepts can become lost in the process. Team CYB3RL4NG wishes to explore the chronology by which terms in psychological discourse become popularized, and whether the popularization of these terms has resulted in a dilution of their meanings and weight.
Sponsors
If you sponsor us, we can advertise you here. Be the first! Contact our team liaison, Terra, at toh12@terpmail.umd.edu for details.
We are grateful to the Gemstone program for giving us the opportunity to work on this project.
Gemstone Program 
Honors College