The major advance is the internet, and after 20 years (has it really been that long?) we are seeing parts of our society crumble around us as the new processes — effortless information sharing, hierarchy-destroying collaboration, online community-building and citizen journalism — begin to take hold. Ron Shewchuk
This quote from Ron’s timely and insightful comments to my post on Atlas Shrugged got me thinking. I am reading about conversation analysis (CA) in my Advanced Qualitative Research Methods doctoral class. CA is a qualitative approach that has become highly relevant for examining educational phenomena related to discourse supported by many tools and resources for computer-mediated communication.
Joan M. Mazur, writing in the Handbook of Research on Educational Communication & Technology, 2nd Ed (2004), reminds us of the easily observable aspects of discourse, such as words, gestures, sounds, and body language. Each is key to understanding the structure of the discourse.
But obviously, written discourse is different. Written discourse, Mazur says, is multimodal, and an analysis of written text gives us opportunities to study a range of communications and representations within one text, called the semiotic landscape.
For college instructors like me, there is plenty motivation to understand written discourse. I am a Baby Boomer teaching mostly Millennials. Whereas the youthful motto of my generation was “never trust anyone over 30”, Washington Post Book Critic Ron Charles says, for the Twitter generation, the new slogan seems to be “don’t trust anyone over 140 characters.”
Think of the language used in computer-mediated contexts like email, Twitter, text messaging, digital videoconferencing, chat rooms, threaded discussions, and instant messaging. Communicating on the Internet contains a new hybrid language of “written speech” with its own evolving semiotics, such as emoticons, and its own verbal structure, Mazur says.
Problem is that communication technologies affect the quality and conduct of conversation. Emoticons, Mazur says, those iconic representations of emotions that are peppered into text-talk to indicate a range of affective responses, have become so routine that many word processors (and WordPress) default to an automatic insertion of the graphic yellow smiley face when one types a colon followed by a closed parenthesis.
That’s where CA comes in. In a broad sense, CA means any study of people talking together in oral communication or language use, including computer-mediated communication technologies. The central purpose of CA, Mazur says, is to investigate the norms and conventions that speakers use in interaction to establish communicative understandings.
Mazur says researchers have isolated three basic facts about conversation: 1. turn-taking occurs; 2. one speaker tends to speak at a time; and 3. turns are taken with as little overlap between them as possible. It is important to understand the concepts of computer-mediated communication since so much of our discourse occurs online now.
Torill Elvira Mortensen, writing in the Handbook of Research on New Literacies (2008), says the human being is an animal that desires meaning, much of which comes from communication. Like Ron says above, computer-mediated information flowing through the Internet is an opportunity for individuals to find, share, and contribute information. Weblogs, or blogs, are especially effective at allowing the individual to express him or herself.
In fact, blogs change the concept of the sender-message-receiver model conceived in 1949 and still used today. Mortensen says a new image of the user emerges from the personal publishing power that the Internet gives the individual, and it needs a new theory to explain it.
Online communication is conducted in text and mediated through a channel that is separate from the human body. The communication world off line offers real substance, but the online world offers nothing but symbols structured in some kind of text. Therefore, Mortensen says, the study of human behavior online is a study of the human exchange of symbols online.
Interpreting texts, or hermeneutics, seeks to help us find the meaning in texts. But how language is used now and will be used in the future of computer-mediated communication is wide open. Doubtless, there is much work for researchers in discourse analysis.
Yes, I know. If I was really hip, I’d have said this in 140 characters or less.
Glad my post got you thinking, Les, and thanks for your insights. People are calling the time we’re living through “The Great Restructuring” and I think it’s an apt term. The values and culture of a society are contained in its language. Change the language (and the way its speakers use that language) and you change the society.
If Mazur is true, then can we really use the phrase “online conversation”? IM/Twitter is not really ideal for turn-based — at least once during an IM session of any reasonable length I end up with one of those situations where the other person is answering something two lines back, or where your conversations cross over and don’t match up. Blogs are post-focused as well. So maybe we are becoming a world of one-sided conversationalists.
Les, as usual, you’ve posted another intriguing topic. I wanted to comment on this post, to give you and your readers a Millennial’s perspective on text messaging, one of the most popular forms of online conversation among my generation.
Real-time, text-based communication presents obvious advantages and disadvantages in terms of quantity and quality of conversations. The instantaneous transmission of messages has become a standard in our society, where people are on-the-go and in constant “need” of information.
But I think it’s imperative to acknowledge the importance of nonverbal aspects of communication that are often associated with face-to-face communication, such as gestures, sounds, and body language, as mentioned by Mazur. Their absence in online communication poses several risks.
Text cannot convey tone or emotion, but even solutions such as using emoticons or other formatting cues (capitalization, italics, additional punctuation marks, etc.) can still be ambiguous and easily misinterpreted. I think that the need to create emoticons, or symbols constructed out of type to convey facial expressions, shows the human need for visual affirmation of human emotion.
In some ways, it seems as though the onset of online communication has divided our world into two subcultures, the text savvy and the non-text savvy. Les, I think you define text savvy as “hip”?
And while they haven’t made Rosetta Stone software for the language of text messaging, as often happens in intercultural communication, the meaning of text messages or other forms of online communication can be lost in translation.
The other important concept I wanted to highlight is the diffusion of text message language into other mediums of communication like school work. At Towson University’s annual Mass Communication and Communication Studies Networking Fair, keynote speaker Kate Perrin alluded to spelling and grammatical errors which are becoming all too common on resumes and writing samples, as we become increasingly dependent upon automatic grammar and spell-check software.
Text messaging language allows us to omit vowels and punctuation, use letter-number homophones (i.e. “gr8” for “great) and reduce words to syllables (i.e. “tom” for tomorrow, “). Message receivers are forced to rely on the context of words to interpret their meaning. This can create an additional language barrier between the text savvy and non-text savvy.
But in conversations between two people who are text savvy, these shortcuts and abbreviations can be more time and cost efficient by reducing the amount of time it takes to type a message, and the number of characters needed to complete a message, since some mobile companies charge more for additional pages in text messages. However, this does becomes problematic when the language of text messaging and more formal channels of communication begin to intersect.
I want to end on an optimistic note, by stating I believe that it is quite possible to be both text savvy and an articulate communicator in verbal and written forms of communication. After all, President Obama, called “the most eloquent political speaker of our time”, chose to notify the nation of his choice as Joe Biden for his running mate via a text message.
I did already mention that I’m a Millennial, right?
I thoroughly agree with Philip’s comment…we seem to be living in a “world of one-sided conversationalists.” According to Miriam Webster, a conversation is an “oral exchange of sentiments, observations, opinions, or ideas.” Isn’t this a bit outdated? It seems that the “exchange” aspect of a conversation is becoming obsolete. It almost seems like the “oral” aspect is slowly dying as well. With social media networks and sites like Twitter, what is regarded as a “conversation” really consists only of one party providing sentiments, observations, opinions, or ideas, while another party (or parties) simply looks or listens. Some online forums however, such as blogs, do provide opportunities for another party to participate in the conversation (case in point: this comment that I’m writing). However, have we replaced oral discourse with one-sided typed messages consisting of 140 characters or less?
Regardless, Twitter is still considered to be a way to have a conversation. On BlogHerald.com, Lorelle VanFossen mentions her husband’s attempt to describe Twitter to a non-techy friend, “Twitter is a public way to have a private conversation.” From what I’ve gathered, this seems to sum up Twitter fairly well. (As a millennial, I must admit that I have yet to succumb to the Twitter craze. I do, however, post similar status updates on Facebook, which often yield comments. And voila— without uttering a word, I’ve had a conversation).
Online conversations are the wave of the future. In fact, it is not uncommon to hear online abbreviations in face-to-face conversations. I have heard a friend utter “BRB” when leaving a table at a restaurant to use the restroom (that’s the online version of “be right back”— for all of you Baby Boomers out there).
As Les mentions, online discourse is a fantastic opportunity for individuals to find, share, and contribute information and essentially, express themselves. But what are the consequences of this apparent shift in conversation? Are they just harmless exchanges of symbols online? As Ron notes above, “Change the language (and the way its speakers use that language) and you change the society.” In accordance with his observation, the Australian Journal of Communication (2005) states that the use of online conversations and computer mediated communication allows people to physically remain in dispersed spaces, creating communities that are separated physically but connected electronically, thereby changing their patterns of communication, social behavior, and language (Horstmanshof & Power, 2005).
In her blog, Liz Strauss specifically discusses the impact of Twitter. She asks readers, “Can silly out-of-context Tweets hurt?” Liz proceeds to say, “The Internet has a long memory and no eraser.” (http://www.successful-blog.com/1/silly-out-of-context-tweets-can-they-hurt/) In traditional conversation, we rely on our own memory to archive conversations. With online conversations, your words last forever. There are physical records of your IMs, your Facebook status updates, or your Tweets. Liz makes an interesting point about the lasting effect of this new era of conversation…
The advances of online conversation tools such as, instant messaging, twitter, text messaging, blogging and many others has changed the way people communicate not only in terms of speed and convenience but in person communication has been changed as well.
There seems to always be a growing need to communicate faster easier which has led us just in the last twenty years alone from portable phones with answering machines being the latest technology to help us communicate to having blackberries and cell phones that connect to the internet. If you need to get in touch with someone or find out what they are doing people now check someone’s Facebook status, or Twitter page. If that doesn’t work you can send them a text message or a BBM (Blackberry Message). If that doesn’t work you could always still just plain old call them. In my lifetime alone calling someone on the phone has gone from the only way to get in touch with someone to one of many.
The ability to communicate online or through other means has led to an increasing number of people to work from home, work while traveling and just multi-task in general. While there are many advantages to this I believe it is causing break downs in face-face and over the phone communication. As Lauren pointed out, text and online communication make it difficult to convey tone. I have been involved in many situations where I have misread what the person was trying to say to me because I read a text message to mean one thing when it was meant to say something else. When talking online or through to text to someone who is not experienced can lead to difficulties. As was stated earlier text lingo is full of specific abbreviations such as bff (best friend forever) jk (just kidding or joking depending on who you ask) brb (be right back) and lol (laugh out loud). As instant messaging grew and became more advanced the emotion icons were added. Some people made there own such as the familiar 🙂 before they became actual icons. Twitter is the latest advancement that has caught on. People can now tell the world what they are doing or thinking in 140 characters or less. I tried to ignore the Twitter craze but I found myself checking Rich Eisen’s Twitter page for updates on the NFL Draft all weekend. Next year there will be something else that is latest “it” way to communicate.
I think it is important that we hold on to some of the structure that conversation has had over the years. It is a great thing to share information and communicate to more people than ever before there are circumstances where talking in short hand with expressions is fine but others where there is no substitute for in person conversation. It is important to remember your audience because if you are talking in person and say “my bff” to someone who is not text savvy they will probably give you a confused look. I find myself editing my work all the time to make sure I am speaking the way my audience is expecting me to be speaking. While it may be fine to use abbreviations such as “prob” in a friendly email, that would not go over as well in a paper to be turned for school or work. We as people need to hold on to all the in person communication skills we learned while growing up in addition to incorporating new ways of communicating in our daily lives. Just because there is more communication does not mean it is better communication. Right now it seems that more people are talking without saying anything.
Although I am living in the 21st century, I am not a total Millennial, because I am still sending text messages and e-mails in complete sentences. My conscience tells me that I should utilize my writing skills and not totally conform to the lingo and abbreviate words with numbers and symbols because my words should reflect the proper use of English.
What makes me more furious is that I want to interact, but I can’t understand the conversation, so I do not comment. At times, I feel left out because my on-line vocabulary needs to be updated and that my socialization on-line chat skills needs improvement.
In the IABC text book, it states that the concept of on-line social networking and dialogues is that it incorporates conversations, interests, and shared knowledge. (p.511)
Too often, many would rather be blogged or text messaged rather than a simple phone call. For this cause, many face to face interactions have been avoided.
It was Christmas morning and I received a text from a friend who lives out of town. She’d reply to my long messages with pictures and symbols. In my last message, I asked her to give me a call. Instead, her reply was, “Not at this time, sorry.” So, I decided to call her anyway and she never bothered to pick up the phone. It would be another two weeks before I would hear from her again and when she bothered to contact me; it would be in a form of an e-mail or a text. I will admit it took me a while to sign up and start networking with friends on Twitter, because it has taken me a long time to understand it. When I finally got the hang of it, I became curious and I craved for more and I owe it to my friend who refused to call me on the phone.
I recently visited Oprah Winfrey’s Twitter page and it was funny as she posted a picture of herself without any makeup and posed with her hair out of place. She felt that she needed to respond to a rumor that her hair is artificial. Many were shocked at what they saw however, it was an effective medium to get her message across for those who were interested. Another celebrity actor, Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) became the first person to attract one million followers on the micro-blogging website Twitter.
The more I visit websites such as Facebook, myspace and Twitter, the more I become intrigued because people from all over the world are responding, networking and communicating. I am starting to see why these sites may possibly be used as a reliable and resourceful tool.
Les, the topic of twitter and online communication should be of concern to my generation (the Millennials) possibly more any. Don’t get me wrong, email, and text messages do serve a purpose both in the business and social world. However, that is if they are used in the proper context.
Twitter seems to be contributing to a new found selfishness that my generation seems to be developing. There used to be a time where people were unreachable in which a person could be unreachable if they wanted to be. And this was appealing to most people. Yes times are different now, but is has come to the point now where people seem to think everyone wants to know exactly what they are doing at all times. This just sounds vein to me. If I’m going on a beer run with my friends, or if I’m getting gas for my car…..who really cares? If the people who care about me want to know what I have been up to or what I’m doing, they can just call me. I don’t answer they know I’ll call them back, and I know the same is true for each one of my friends.
One last thing that bothers me about twitter is how people are called followers. This makes things sound more like a cult than a networking site.
Dear Les,
When I read this topic I thought it was very interesting and has always made me think more about the way I write while having online conversations or IM’s.
If this was an IM with a friend my conversation would look completely different from how I am responding now. It would look a little more like this:
“Yo les, when i read this topic i thought it was mad
interestin and makes me think more while havin online convos or im’s”
As you can see the text above isn’t formal, or completely finished. When texting or having an online conversation with friends, all the time spent making sentences grammatically correct or written without present day slang is lost. This new wave of communicating has also lead to the decrease in the ability to interact socially in person. Talking and communicating like the text above on a everyday basis makes it harder to talk formally or correctly. It has made it harder for the online conservationist to speak correctly or have a well written email in the work force. Websites like Twitter and Facebook have also help the decrease. Some of the older generations are envious of the younger generations for being so technologically savvy or computer alliterate, but being a part of the younger generation I look at the older generation with envy because they have better grammar and write more formal.
This decrease has also affected the younger generations while looking for a job. This is because less and less young adults are able to speak properly or communicate with well educated people because of the short hand, slang day to day online conversations.
I was very pleased to see that this is also an interest of yours and I’m glad to share my opinion on the topic.
Les,
This form of one-way communication can be one of the most useless or useful things. Twitter can help businesses keep their employees up-to-date with things going on in the company. It can help communication for important matters like dates of meetings or events going on. But this form of communication can be defaced and brought down to a more childish form of communication. For example…
“Jonny went to the mall today”
“David is gonna go to the grocery store”
“Billy just went to the bathroom”
etc…
The purpose of these comments or “tweets” is to let everyone know what you’re doing at all times. With this new technology age, it’s almost impossible not to reach someone at any moment. This is just one more to add to the list.
However, I have seen some people use tweeter to benefit themselves. Puck Daddy, a blog about the NHL on Yahoo!, has a live feed to their tweeter site during games. This brings instant analysis of the games, and can keep readers entertained in between periods or during commercials.
In contrast, I have seen the same play-by-play on website like Capitals Insider, a Washington Post blog about the Caps. This live game chat gives all readers and administrators a place to communicate two-way.
In conclusion, I think Twitter can be used to benefit certain people, but it’s up to us as PR practitioners to determine the best mode of communication. There are so many options available to us now, and we need to make sure not to use them in a careless and meaningless fashion.
What’S a TWIT?
OMG. I was the most anti-TWITTERER on earth until I went onto TWITTER and there I was instantly on screen with MC Hammer and he was telling ME that he’s thinking of getting a puppy. And there was Larry King telling ME what’s happening on his show. “We’re talking about murder. Do you know any one who’s been murdered?” I like him so much better in this format. One sentence—one hundred and forty characters from Larry King is fine by me! Now that my modus operandi is to skip through thoughts, yes I am the impatient one who has stopped reading books but now flits around on-line for my news, TWITTER is fine by me. Like one big long universal leonard cohen poem when he first came out with suzanne take me down to the place by the river and there was no need to punctuate and it seemed so democratic . Yes TWITTER creates a democracy for the published word.
TWITTER fills a vital need. Our personal worlds, our neighborhoods have expanded such that If they were to be measured according to destinations that could be reached in an afternoon, you or I can easily include Los Angeles, London, Moscow or any place else to which we can take any of a number of flights directly from BWI. Our personal worlds have expanded in terms of depth as well along with the virtual collapse of time that occurs as we may now dig deep with but a key stroke into the historical information from any number of archives, libraries, and public records that were previously attainable only by the dusty voyages made into the labyrinths of these repositories —on foot and with special permission.
TWITTER has virtually recreated the intimacy of strangers. It is an intimacy we lost when we stopped gathering at city fountains and in village squares. Remember those enchanting Pieter Bruegel paintings of peasants in the village working closely enough to one another that they might comment on the passing of the day; the shifting of the wind; the smell of food; the body of a woman; the folly of children at play, without consequence? THAT is the world that TWITTER has recreated. A world where we work side by side, touch elbows, bump heads, inhale one another’s perspiration; murmur words of exasperation —and encouragement. A world where we wish each other well. Indeed, in perusing the contents of TWITTER, I see that TWITTERERS don’t say much. I’m awake. I’m taking a walk. I’m eating lunch. I’m seeing a friend. I’m seeing a movie. I’m making it through another day. Often, they comment on the weather. But that, the mundane, is what I contend is missing from our newly created virtual worlds and in our TWITTERS we shatter our sense of isolation. We find reinforcement. That we are more than a wisp of vapor rising from the fields of our forebears in the morning. More than digital impulses passing through the cable line in the night. And it strikes me as I first log onto TWITTER, create a screen name and look around me that ah ha, I am not alone! And within seconds, before I have even stroked they keys, other TWITTERERS– “Dancing Budda” and “ Hottie Helen,” are watching. Do they hear me? Are they with me when my first TWEET slips from my fingers?— “TWITTER, I LOVE YOU!”
[…] diagrams.) I also learned a lot by reading a blog entry that describes written discourse at Studying online conversation in the Twitter generation that Tanya had tagged on a social bookmarking site. I learned that Conversation Analysis studies […]
hi…im doing a research about “faceboook status”, and i try to analysis the conversation….most of the time i found out that people are chatting in that status after they put the comments. (i’m living in Indonesia, so people doing this all the time)
so im trying to make a conversation analysis. sound very possible, but the references show me i need somekind of details (intake of breath…silence….or emphasising) which can be found in face to face communication.
how can i analyis this conversation?? whats the tool, i’ve already collected 3 months status from 1 person including the comments from the friends.
after that, i separate them in categories or several topics this person always wrote.
and i found difficulties what the next step…
anyone can help???