Turns out the way a city talks can be a pretty strong indicator of its cohesiveness. And when I say talk, I don’t mean regional accents or topics of conversation. I mean the words we use: pronouns, articles, auxiliary verbs, positive/negative indicators, and the like.
You just had the worst flashback to your 6th grade English class, I know, but hang with me.
This dude James Pennebaker is doing incredible research that focuses on the nuances of how we talk to each other and what that can tell us about ourselves, our relationships, our office environments, our cities.
A particular aspect of this research includes the mass analysis of language used in Craig’s List ads across a number of cities. Cities that rank high for similar language use in their ads include Portland and New Orleans. Cities that rank low include Dayton and Tulsa.
This whole identity issue might very well sort itself out if we started meeting more new people and having more conversations outside of our normal social spheres.
As far as I know, Indianapolis isn’t a part of this research right now, but it does make me wonder a few things. When I think of Portland or New Orleans, I imagine a city with a certain kind of personality. When I think of Dayton or Tulsa, well, I know where they are on a map and that’s about it.
Working with IndyHub, I have the opportunity to be a part of a lot of conversations about Indy’s identity. Who are we? How are we talked about outside of I-465? When people see Indianapolis, what personality comes to mind? Our city talks about this identity thing ad nauseam.
What we could be learning from Pennebaker, though, is that this whole identity issue might very well sort itself out if we started meeting more new people and having more conversations outside of our normal social spheres.
There’s extensive scientific research showing that we tend to mirror people we’re paying attention to both physically and linguistically. So, I think it stands to reason that more interactions with more people could help Indianapolis organically develop its own language brand standards. (Okay, brand standards might be a stretch, but you get the idea.)
The best news about this talking business is that you can put it into practice today without spending a penny of the city’s budget, changing your clothes, or pretending to like tofu or the I-69 extension. I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure all you have to do is have a conversation with someone and pay attention while they’re talking.
Don’t be creepy about initiating these conversations, please. Just be open to the idea that the person you’re standing next to in line at the grocery store may be interesting enough to talk to for one minute.
Even better, go somewhere new. Go to Get IndyVolved on June 18 and meet a hundred people doing incredible work in our city, plus hundreds more who are looking for ways to help. Sign up for a Trade School class. Find new music venues and restaurants and parks around the city. Check out a different library. Volunteer some place outside of your neighborhood. Ride IndyGo.
And then just talk to the people you meet about anything. Seriously, anything. Make it a habit, and who knows, maybe we’ll turn out to be one of those cohesive cities.
Find out more about We Are City and register for the We Are City [SUMMIT] taking place in Indy on August 21, 2014.
