Media Language

Day 1,792, 09:40 • Published in Austria Austria • by Rangeley


Expression is a powerful tool here in eAustria. You can present ideas, try to convince others, perhaps even be convinced yourself. When considering which language you should use, there are a few important factors.

As mentioned, this is eAustria. The vast majority of new players will be German speakers, who are just beginning a strange new game. Being able to access articles which can be understood can help make the game feel more welcoming, and perhaps cause more players to stay, leading to national growth. German is undoubtedly the ideal here.

Contributions

Not everyone can speak German though. English is a common second language, and acts effectively as the lingua franca - or diplomatic language - between nations in game. It also works in this way internally in e-nations that have people with different native tongues. But not everyone can speak English either, or feels particularly comfortable with it.

While reaching a wide audience is important, expression itself is valuable. People should express themselves in languages they are comfortable with, and have the right. Ideas, whether good or bad, can benefit us all by being considered here publicly, no matter the language. Inability to speak a particular language should not mean inability to speak at all.

What is said

Much more problematic than the language in which something is said, can be what is said. The frequent use of the term "labanc" in the media, for example, should raise eyebrows. Historically, "Kurucs" were those who fought against the Habsburgs, for an independent Hungary. "Labancs," on the other hand, were their pro-Habsburg opponents - it literally references the long haired wigs often worn by their soldiers.

By constantly trying to frame the political situation here in this way, it presents a very distorted view indeed, of how it actually is. Nobody is pro-Habsburg, nobody wants to dominate eHungary. Nobody, that I know of, even wears wigs. I challenge its usage here.

Just as it is important to look beyond language, it is important to look beyond false labels which mischaracterize others. There are legitimate differences of opinion about which paths to take - which policies to enact. These will exist in any nation. But we do ourselves a disservice by clouding the real issues, with false ones.