230674 Language Use in Social Media (S) (WiSe 2022/2023)

The Internet has become an integral part of everyday life and has changed the way we communicate with other people. It has generated novel genres (e.g. e-mail, blogs, vlogs, etc.) and given rise to a variety of social media platforms (e.g. Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, etc.) on which people interact with one another “on the go” via smartphones and other (mobile) devices. This course is interested in the pragmatics of such social media discourses, or how people use language in diverse online contexts to achieve interpersonal social goals. We will investigate the principles which govern communication by adopting an interpersonal pragmatics perspective. More specifically, we will discuss major theoretical approaches and concepts within the field of pragmatics (e.g. Gricean maxims, speech act theory, linguistic (im-)politeness, relational work, among others) and apply them to authentic language data found in online spaces. There will also be room to discuss examples from your favourite social media platforms, so feel free to bring your own ideas and suggest material for discussion. Further details will be made available in the first session.