Labels, as a means of identification, are becoming increasingly significant as communication trends to shorter phrasing and greater reach. Today Twitter is the epitome of this phenomenon, where short messages of 280 characters or less are shared globally with billions of people.

Traditional media is similarly affected through shareable headlines.

It’s possible the future will trend to even shorter, less contextual communication.

While labels spare characters in summarizing a concept, those concepts can be large, complex and/or rely on context for accurate communication. As a result, both labels (as the message) and social media (as the medium) are prone to being imprecise and vague vehicles for communication.

For a period rife with imprecise and vague communication, historians, aptly, have taken to labeling our 21st century as The Information Age. It is fitting because not only will this period be defined by mainstream access to nearly unlimited information but also by the proliferation of disinformation and miscommunication.

I will write an entire post on miscommunication alone, but for this post I want to focus on how (1) Articulation and (2) Specificity combat Disinformation and Miscommunication (i.e. the original “DMs” people regularly slipped into).

Enter the evolution of labels: Like hyphenated last names, labels are becoming more Articulate and Specific by acknowledging both their Yin and Yang in order to hone in on a self-evident meaning (and in the context of hyphenated last names, you and I both know your in-laws represent the ‘darkness’ here but we’ll keep that between us). Unlike hyphenated last names, though, which are a result of cultural initiative to include both partners’ history, the Information Age is prompting labels evolve to overcome Disinformation and Miscommunication. Two of the most famous examples of these new, evolved labels are “Democratic Socialist” (via AOC) or “Optimistic Harbinger” (my pen name, but you already knew that).

To explain how labels that paradoxically address the Yin and Yang of their components create a more self-evident interpretation, let’s start with “Optimistic Harbinger.”

For this new, “Information Age-proof” label, both words need to be given equal weight. Since we literally literally read left to right, though, we will start with ‘Optimistic.’ Do a Google Image search for Optimistic. (Actually do it. Please? Fine…. Here, I’ve done it for you). There are some wordplay examples where erasing the “im” in ‘impossible’ creates “POSSIBLE” or cutting out part of the “n‘t” in ‘I can’t do it’ turns the phrase into the positive “I CAN do it.” If pictures are a thousand words, I see two: “Yin” and “Yang”:

The Yang (the “light”) of optimism is that it is motivational, inspiring and encourages action, and

the Yin (the “dark”) of optimism is that it ignores or, in the case of these images, literally erases the realities that are inconvenient. I won’t explain how this can be dangerous to decision-making and one’s life perspective.

What about Harbinger? If I were to do a word association, I’d first think of “Doom,” “Death” and “Debt-fueled financial crisis” among other things media-labelled “harbingers” like to talk about. A Google image search shows Horsemen of the Apocalypse and a number of super heroes and villains: It’s a larger-than-life label that resides primarily within religious and popculture contexts. To discuss the Yin and Yang of Harbinger, I will start with the Yin:

The Yin (the “dark”) of harbingers is that they imply end is near. You might say harbingers also have a bias - in that they extrapolate the current trends towards a nihilistic ending and ignore the good or positive that will necessarily be a component of the changes they have identified - and

the Yang (the “light”) of harbingers is that they are concerned, pragmatic and warning people at-large to be ware of impending danger.

Now for the magic of what happens when we combine these words:

What’s cool about combining “Optimistic” with “Harbinger” is that the Yang of “Optimistic” negates the Yin of “Harbinger” AND vice-versa (without being oxymoronic and meaningless, too!) When combined, an Optimistic Harbinger describes someone who will give you a balanced account of what’s to come.

Evolving labels to enhance their articulation and specificity is not only helpful for clearer communication, but it is more persuasive. When you explicitly acknowledge the Yin of your Yang (and vice versa), you take the power away from those interested in taking advantage of a less specific label’s vagueness. (I.e. she’s not a socialist! She’s a DEMOCRATIC socialist! These two labels are definitionally different!)

This brings me to my personal favorite label that I’ve come across: Democratic Socialism. It is explicitly not raw socialism and, in fact, juxtaposed with a relatively oxymoronic adjective. “Democracy” and “Capitalism” are ideologically cousins or even sisters due to their respective reliance on “small government.” You can get a deeper appreciation for what this means by reading how Capitalism and Socialism are ideological extremes in another article, “Optimistic Harbinger: Why debates about “Capitalism vs. Socialism” don’t make any sense. (Because everything is a spectrum)”

As a result, Democratic Socialism is NOT socialism. Unlike pure socialism or pure capitalism which are definitionally extremist positions, Democratic Socialism is a middle ground where one pragmatically decides what elements of society should be subsidized and paid for by the government in order to reform “raw Capitalism” and achieve balance between those two extremes. The end result should be a globally competitive country that empowers its citizens to meaningfully contribute regardless of their ancestry and socioeconomic status.

The most important aspect, in my opinion, of a label like “Democratic Socialism” is its descriptive, mobilizing power which stems from its self-defined objective: introducing elements of socialism into our democratic, capitalist society. Its broader, parent labels “Liberalism” or “the Democratic Party” lack this essential definition and remain vulnerable to spin tactics due to their general vagueness.