Jejemon Fever

Do you usually text like this: eow p0wh, kumustA p0wH KYu, n0h? This unusual design of a message can be actually seen anywhere. It is estimated that there are thousands of Jejemons waiting to be discovered.

If your answer to the question above is yes, then you might just be one of them. The word "jejemon" came from the awful, twisted word "jeje" which was made to design the slang "hehe", expressing laughter or interest, and also, from the suffix "-mon" from "Pokemon" or "Digimon" which were used to coin childhood favorites, "pocket monsters" and "digital monsters", respectively. Who would forget Pikachu for that electric shock he/ she made in a tournament just to please Ash by giving him badges? (Wait, I have already watched Pokemon for the nth time and still, Pikachu's real identity is still not clear to me, lol.)

Anyways, jejemons were actually normal people, like us, but because of the invention of texting, and with that sudden addiction, they engaged into intentional prolongation of words by adding -z, -h, and literally, creating somewhat like crazy "synonymous" terms from the base word. Recall the times when we needed to shorten or abbreviate words because we were in hurry. The opposite happened to the Jejemon trainee. Take note, never did the term "training" enter in a soon-to-be-Jejemon's mind. It just came in without expectation.

 Image Courtesy: Dealmasen Wordpress

They adopted the other way, thinking that maybe it was really cool to alter and form new stupid unconventional words out of simple ones. And so, this trend remained silent until such time that more educated and conservative people entered the scene, bashing all those innocent Jejemons, creating the anti-Jejemon campaign, and forming teams of Jejebusters and Jejemon Protesters.

If there's something strange in the text response, who you're gonna call?  Jejemonbusters.

The Jejemons were deprived of doing what they love (at least, they loved it up to a point equivalent to how others hated them). It was like, "Cause it's you and me, and NOT all of the people". Reminded me of Lifehouse's song. And with love, they thought, maybe nothing could stop them from living in their own ways.

Too bad, society dictates the trend. And society will always be made up of almost majority of the people who had better access to education - those ones seen wandering around social networking sites like Facebook, Friendster and Multiply.

And for a thinking Jejemon, "if highly educated people can browse the internet and interact, why can't I?". After all, they were also real people who had to go on with the flow of fad.  And they had families too with them! But one thing's for sure, either their families condemn them just like everybody else does, or they support them and take part in the Jejemon outburst.

 Image Courtesy: Tumbler user

Admittedly, the presence of the Jejemons has become a manifestation of the weakening use of mother language. Not only did texting made people (not only Filipinos) tamad, but somehow it has hindered ways to good communication.  This could be the side effect of man's fervor to reach its limits. Technology will always be bonded to society, and it will continue to shape cultures, generations and conventions.

The upside, however, is that Jejemons have been consistent sources of entertainment. And Jejebusters will continue to hunt them, not hurt them. After all, everybody deserves to live. Ajejeje!

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