Posts

How does Taylor Swift present herself on Instagram and Twitter (X)?

Image
Taylor Swift is a tremendously well-known American pop singer who has, so far, claimed 12 Grammy awards. She uses her social media platforms in an apt way to promote her music, whilst also advocating her personal political beliefs – all in aim of inspiring and educating her followers (Chan 2023). But what is identity? Identity is understood to be a set of individual resources that people draw upon to present and express their own identity, these resources can be semiotic or linguistic (Bucholtz and Hall 2005: 585). There are many strategies that someone can use to create their own identity online. Taylor Swift’s static identities are that she is female, American, 34 years old; and her fluid identity could be her fondness for cats which is posted on her social media through photos or stories of her and her cat. Although, due to Taylor Swift’s fame there is a very low likeliness that she is actually in sole control of her social media accounts. She will have a team that post for her a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Exploring the differences between 'standard' and digital writing

Image
In today’s digital age, writing is everchanging due to the constant emergence of new technology and social media platforms – due to this, the way we use and manipulate language can change daily. Therefore, language standards keep on evolving. Language standardisation, as defined by Straaijer (2019) is a term that is used within linguistics to talk about the becoming of a new ‘standard’ language. Standardisation is achieved through using both speaking and writing to create a ‘consistent norm and form’. This deviation from the norm is an important maxim in informal digital communication . The term ‘digital literacy’ came into use in the 1990s, being digitally literate involves multiple skills that are also associated with print reading. For example, drawing on previous knowledge of a topic to read between the lines and understand the piece of digital literacy. ‘Standard’ writing and digitalese differ in numerous ways but let’s have a look at the most visual differences... Pictograms (...
Post a Comment
Read more

Explaining the phenomena: ‘filter bubbles’ and ‘fake news’

Although the internet can be a fountain of knowledge for you to educate yourselves on past and present news events, it can have detrimental impacts due to the freedom that people have to create fake news which can infect your personalised algorithms (filter bubbles). Pariser (2011), an internet activist, coined the term ‘filter bubble’ as an explanation of why and how a user’s ability to view certain information is based on their previous internet usage. The more that you, an individual user of digital media, involve yourself with certain ideologies or pieces of potentially fake news, there will be an increase in similar pieces of fake news that you will be shown due to the algorithm you have created. Filter bubbles appear in digital communication due to personalised algorithms which limit a user’s access to information based on past behaviour (Pariser 2011). Algorithms, “a finite list of precise steps for executing a particular task” (Jones and Hafner 2012), originate from maths – ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Are online blogs representative of a new genre?

Image
Online blogs have created a seemingly new genre in the world of communication. By genre, I mean a conceptual tool for research on writing, reading, and language in our current digital age (Heyd 2016). Georgakopoulou (2006: 552) describes digital genre as ‘orienting frameworks of conventionalised expectations and routine ways of speaking and (inter)acting in specific sites and for specific purposes.’ Therefore, in Swales’ (1990: 58) definition of a genre, which focuses on functionality, blogs are a genre in themselves. They have followed the process of  remediation : ‘the formal logic by which new media refashion prior media forms’ (Bolter & Grusin 2000: 273). Hence, blogs are an example of a remediated hybrid genre as they incorporate both new and old media norms (Herring et al. 2005). Blogs have the ability to create a relationship between their writer and their audience as they offer personal stories, opinions, and thoughts, all in the interest of entertaining the reader. O...
Post a Comment
Read more