stance-taking in social mediain social media

D i s c o u r s e A n a l y s i s •••• 8 t h S e m e s t e r •••• S p r i n g 2 0 1 6

D e p a r t m e n t o f L a n g u a g e a n d L i n g u i s t i c s , F a c u l t y o f E n g l i s h L a n g u a g e a n d L i t e r a t u r e N a t i o n a l a n d K a p o d i s t r i a n U n i v e r s i t y o f A t h e n s

D r M a r i z a G e o r g a l o u

IN THE PREVIOUS LECTURE

· Discourse analysis· Social media discourse analysis–Text– Context– Context– Actions + interactions – Power· Why study social media· Examples from Facebook on self-presentation

WHY DO WE USE SOCIAL MEDIA?SOCIAL MEDIA?

· Stance df + components

· Kinds of stance

· Grammar of stance-taking

· Discourse of stance-taking

· Stance as a multimodal

IN THIS LECTURE

· Stance as a multimodal linguistic act

· Facebook ‘Like’

· Stance + photo-sharing on Flickr + Instagram

· Examples from Facebook

· Stance as a public act

EXPRESSING THE SELF

· Social media = new domains to express opinions, feelingsand attitudes on and attitudes on many topics

· Affordances for self-generated content

StanceData from Facebook (adapted from Barton & Lee 2013)

WHAT IS STANCE?

Lexis, grammar + other meaning-making resources to expressattitudes, feelings, beliefs, evaluations, judgments, commitment towards commitment towards a precise target(interlocutor, person represented in discourse, ideas represented in discourse, other texts)

(Biber & Finegan 1989; Du Bois 2007;

Englebretson 2007; Kiesling 2011) © Olimpia Zagnoli

STANCE COMPONENTS

①stance-takerstance-taker

© Olimpia Zagnoli

STANCE COMPONENTS

②stance-object (i.e. topic under (i.e. topic under discussion)

© Olimpia Zagnoli

STANCE COMPONENTS

③resources drawn upondrawn upon

(e.g. evaluative lexis,

modal verbs,

punctuation, typography,

different languages)© Olimpia Zagnoli

STANCE COMPONENTS

④addressee(s)addressee(s)

© Olimpia Zagnoli (Barton & Lee 2013)

Context: Ariel is a Chinese-English bilingual university student.

Stance-taker

Stance-objects

Choice of English as act of self-positioning

Facebook data (adapted from Barton & Lee 2013: 86-87)

Stance resources

KINDS OF STANCESTANCE

( B i b e r e t a l . 1 9 9 9 ; M ye r s 2 0 1 0 : 9 5 - 1 1 3 )

EPISTEMIC

Knowledge, beliefs

· Certainty, doubt, actuaIity, precision, limitation (e.g. definitely, I know, I doubt, in fact, possibly, I doubt, in fact, possibly, might, must, it seems that)

· Source of knowledge or perspective from which information is given (e.g. according to, rumour has it)

I'll be spending the first night of Passover with friends at a restaurant in Delray. The menu will be a traditional Passover meal with all the fixings. I would say that most of the population in this area either eat out or order a complete dinner and have it at home.

Data from Thoroughly Modern Millie blog (Myers 2010)

ATTITUDINAL

Feelings, personal perspectives

(adverbials such as ironically and fortunately, verbs such fortunately, verbs such as fear and love, adjectives such as happy and angry)

Data from Israeli Mom blog (Myers 2010)

STYLISTIC

Way in which something is said

· Speaker/writer comments on comments on communication itself (e.g. honestly, with all due respect)

Helen

Data from The India Uncut blog (Myers 2010)

Data from Facebook (Georgalou 2014)

· Smiley (soften, ironicise, self-mock)

GRAMMAR OF STANCE-TAKINGSTANCE-TAKING

( B i b e r e t a l . 1 9 9 9 ; M ye r s 2 0 1 0 : 9 5 - 1 1 3 )

VERB + CLAUSE COMPLEMENT

• I think this is a beautiful story. (comment to Bitch PhD)

• And I suppose the EU laws on human rights add another layer. (comment to BoingBoing)

• It is my personal feeling that the blogosphere has elements which may

· Stance-taking clause

comes first + sub-blogosphere has elements which may change us all, when we can indulge in peering into the souls of those affected by current events. (IsraeliMom)

• devin: you know, I wish I could say this is intentional. (Dr Dave)

ordinates clause that

states stance

Blog data (Myers 2010)

· Exception: smileys, LOL (stance after statement)

SEPARATE SENTENCE

Stance after the statement

I remember going there last spring and found the street was not well lit, the sidewalk was irregular and there is no parking lot. That’s not for me.

Data from Thoroughly Modern Millie blog (Myers 2010)

ADVERBIAL

· Extra aspect of meaning to clause

· How action was done / circumstancesdone / circumstances

Upon arrival in the lobby of the hotel we were highly impressed with the lobby and general ambience of the ground floor. Unfortunately that is where it stopped!

Data fromTripAdvisor (Vásquez 2011)

MODAL & SEMI-MODAL VERBS

• Tomorrow may have a slightly higher entropy than today, but not by an amount that explains the radical difference in the behavior of memory over the two intervals (comment to Cosmic Variance) Epistemic

certainty / uncertainty (e.g. may, might)

• Black people should remain focused and be ourselves without worrying about

Blog data (Myers 2010)

Deonticobligation / necessity (e.g. should, must)

Dynamicability / inability (e.g. can)

be ourselves without worrying about what other people have to say. (comment to Black Prof)

• Health officials said the hardened resin, made with venom from toads of the Bufogenus, contains chemicals that candisrupt heart rhythms. (BoingBoing)

PRE-MODIFYING ADVERB

· Adverb vs adverbial

· Modify verb, adjective, another adverbadverb

· Usually single words

· Not float around sentence

· Emphasise attitude to statement

Data fromTwitter (Zappavigna 2012)

STANCE NOUNS

Stance compacted into a noun (nominalisation)

I thought it was a very good hotel, looking at the beautiful pictures at the hotel site, but when we arrived it was a disappointment...

Data fromTripAdvisor (Vásquez 2011)

DISCOURSE OF STANCE-TAKINGSTANCE-TAKING

( M ye r s 2 0 1 0 : 9 5 - 1 1 3 )

REPORTED SPEECH

Dramatizesituation from which reader can infer

Χρόνια πολλά σε όλους και ελπίζω σύντοµα η Άνοιξη να έρθει και στο Surrey γιατί ο καιρός είναι απίστευτα χειµωνιάτικος και ξενέρωτος. Ή όπως µου λένε οι Άγγλοι: “It’s typical and soon you’ll be miserable like us”.

Data from fromGR2UK blog (Georgalou 2016)

reader can infer writer’s view.

Not that I was expecting the walls to be lined with gold, but you look at the set and see how sharp and clean it is, and then you go backstage and, oh my god, has my daughter been playing in here?

Data from Dooce blog (Myers 2010)

RHETORICAL QUESTIONS

Point of view presented as obvious

Romanos

Data from Facebook (Georgalou 2014)

INTER-TEXTUALITY

Express stance by alluding to other texts

Data from Facebook (Georgalou 2014)

Lyrics from Antzela Dimitriou’s song Ατύχημα

IRONY

Contradiction

Mockery

Humour

Carla

Humour

Carla is 37 years old.

Data from Facebook (Georgalou 2014)

Carla

Male friend

CONCESSIONS

Most obvious way to hold up some possible alternativeview to one’s own

Data fromTripAdvisor (Vásquez 2011)

I was not expecting the Hilton but I was expecting something clean and comfortable.

CONVERSA-TIONAL DEVICES

In response to earlier post or comment

Helen

Helen

Male friend

Female friend

STANCE-TAKING AS A MULTIMODAL AS A MULTIMODAL L INGUISTIC ACT

( B a r t o n & L e e 2 0 1 3 : 8 6 - 1 0 6 )

RATING

Social media provide built-in features that invite people to express opinions publicly.publicly.

(Barton & Lee 2013: 88)

FACEBOOK ‘LIKE’

• express positivestance but not want to leave written comment

• express interest in post or its content

show support to poster• show support to poster

• agree or align with stance of status poster

• answer ‘yes’ to a question raised in post

• indicate that post has been read

(Barton & Lee 2013: 89)

‘LIKE’ & MISCOMMU-NICATION

Carla

Male friend

‘Like’ does not immediately signal intended stance.

Male friend

Male friend

Carla

intended stance.

STANCE-TAKING & PHOTO

SHARING ONLINESHARING ONLINE

( B a r t o n & L e e 2 0 1 3 : 9 0 - 9 1 , 1 8 5 - 1 8 6 ; E x am p l e s f r om my F l i c k r & I n s t a g r am a c c o u n t s )

STANCE-RICH ENVIRONMENTS

Different semiotic modes (images, words) + writing spaces (title, description, tags, comments, sets and comments, sets and groups in Flickr) together in stance-taking

Interactive stance-taking � stance-taker relates to others

STANCE-TAKERS

• title + description + tags to express knowledge about image(e.g. #sweetpotato and #chili #muffins recipe from @jamieoliver)

• title + description + tags to express feelings + attitudes about image (e.g. #beautifulview)

①①①① Photographer

Different possible

participation roles(e.g. #beautifulview)

• use particular language/image to tell others who one is (e.g. selfie at one’s working place)

• use particular language/image to relateto viewers (e.g. English for a broader audience)

participation roles

STANCE-TAKERS II

②②②② Viewer

Comments/tags

Anyone online

© Greg Myers

Anyone online

(Flickr)

Privacy settings

(Instagram)commenters express knowledge / belief / opinion / feeling towards image or particular part of it, titleand/or description (e.g. commenter: Black Sheep is

great! I used to drink that beer while in York.)

• commenters refer to previous comment (e.g. expressing (dis)agreement)

• languages commenters use to make comments (e.g. photographer’s native language)

STANCE-TAKERS III

(e.g. photographer’s native language)

• commenters relate to other commenters + photographer(e.g. @ reference, common language, + politeness)

STANCE RESOURCES

Act of posting on Flickr/Instagram = act of stance-taking

Editing, filters

For multilingual participants, choiceof languages= key stance marker

© Jessica Zollman

STANCE OBJECTS

express views on images + photography

e.g. Great shot, and the keyboard in the back gives the scale without hitting us over the head with it.

talk about self + otherstalk about self + others

e.g. the halva I made for our international gathering @ Sirpa’s

talk about events related to content of photo

e.g. #athensmarathon2015

STANCE OBJECTS II

discuss features on Flickr/Instagram

e.g. I have also added a filter which adds to the effect.

express attitudes towards languagesexpress attitudes towards languages

e.g. I'm always confusing the names of different berries, even in Greek.

project one’s sense of self through particular style of writing

e.g. I've been noticing on Flickr that bokeh conveys the effect of lights better than a sharp focus.

WHAT R ESOURCES ARE DRAWN UPON

TO E XPRESS TO E XPRESS STANCES I N SOC IA L

MED IA? Examp l e s f rom Facebook

( G e o r g a l o u 2 0 1 4 )

· Attitudinal verb,

adjectives

· Deontic verb

Context: Alkis (Greek, 31 years old, MSc student in Services Management, AUEB) is studying for his dissertation.

Helen

EXAMPLE 1

Alkis

· Deontic verb

· Conversational

devicesAlkis: I like the sound of the rain on the window, it’s nice to be warm under the duvet at home (one of the advantages of unemployment) but the fact that I must turn on the lights of the room in order to study, as if it was night, eh, no... that’s why I’m a proponent of sunshine and not of dull weather... Gosh, what illumination so early in the morning.... Pff....

Alkis: I like the sound of the rain on the window, it’s nice to be warm under the duvet at home (one of the advantages of unemployment) but the fact that I must turn on the lights of the room in order to study, as if it was night, eh, no... that’s why I’m a proponent of sunshine and not of dull weather... Gosh, what illumination so early in the morning.... Pff....

· Transliteration

(ξεσηκωτικός –

ksesikotikos)

French suffix -que

EXAMPLE 2Alkis

· French suffix -que

· French pre-

modification très

· CreativityAnd something very uplifting from the past!!

someone who doesn’t speak Greek may want to intervene neither do I nor do [my other Greek friends] want to exclude them [...] the purpose is to keep the discussion open for non-

Greek speakers as well

I’m consciously addressing an audience that doesn’t

necessarily know Greek or doesn’t have knowledge of the

Greek context

Greek speakers as well

Helen (Greek, 33 years old, linguist), online interview

Context: Helen shares an article from New York Times, entitled “Greek Unemployed Cut Off From Medical Treatment”. Her friend who comments is also Greek.

EXAMPLE 3

Helen

Female friend

· Stylistic pre-

modifying adverb

· Affective adjectives

· Epistemic verbs

· General stance �· General stance �

shared perception

· Nominalisation

· Reported speech

· Upscaling

· Dynamic modal verb

EXAMPLE 4

· Disclaim

· Stance follow

· Hedging

Helen

EXAMPLE 5

Rhetorical questions

Helen

EXAMPLE 6

Recycling ready-

made stance to

show alignment

Context: Romanos (Greek, 23 years old, IT support). Post one day after 2012 elections.

Romanos

It’s great fortune to be born Greek and it’s great fortune to die [being] Greek!... The in-between, however, is great misfortune!

Song title does stance-taking

Understated stance: “we are not afraid

Context: Carla (Greek, 35 years old, translator) EXAMPLE 7

Carla

“we are not afraid of austerity”

Song title: We are not scared of the new measures

STANCE AS STANCE AS PUBLIC ACTPUBLIC ACT

· Stance-taking = key in online interaction

· Opinions + unique sense of self on larger community of community of stance-takers

· Stance markers signal opinions + relate to other people or their comments.

(Barton & Lee 2013)© Olimpia Zagnoli

STANCE AS PUBLIC ACT II

But:

· Possible to harm

others (e.g. flaming,

trolling, online bullying /

harassment)

· Possible to harm one’s

self (e.g. breaches in

personal relations /

cost one’s career)

· Stance df + components

· Kinds of stance

· Grammar of stance-taking

· Discourse of stance-taking

· Stance as a multimodal

IN THIS LECTURE

· Stance as a multimodal linguistic act

· Facebook ‘Like’

· Stance + photo-sharing on Flickr + Instagram

· Examples from Facebook

· Stance as a public act

Thank you!Thank you!

m .georga l ou@gma i l . c om

www.mar i z ageorga l ou . com