Publication details
Message structure in Internet discussion boards: exchanging letters or talking over the garden fence?
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Contrary to popular belief regarding Internet communication as amorphous, random and chaotic, online genres exchanges tend to be organized and more or less following certain rules. The aim of this paper is to analyse the organization of messages in asynchronous computer-mediated communication paying special attention to what Cherny (1999) refers to as ‘technology-determined rituals like openings’. As this type of communication is situated in the middle of the continuum between speaking and writing, it comprises features of both of these modes of communication, which is reflected also in the organization of messages itself. The analysis is based on a sample corpus of Internet message boards connected to the so-called “women’s topics”, such as dieting and parenting. |