Discourse and Identity on Facebook

Description

Social network sites are dynamic online socio-cultural arenas which give users ample and unprecedented opportunities for self-presentation through the meshing of language with other semiotic modes. With a focus on Facebook, one of the most widely-used online social network sites, this book brings together ideas and concepts related to language online, multimodality, and identity through five topical issues. These include place, time, profession and education, stance-taking, and privacy. The book features a discourse-centred online ethnography that provides authentic verbal and multimodal Facebook posts in both Greek and English . These are complemented with insights from interviews with Facebook participants. The examples bring to life various engaging instances of self- and other-presentation on Facebook identifying the ways in which users can: - locate themselves in terms of place and time; - announce activities, share and broaden their expertise and buttress solidarity among colleagues and fellow students; - communicate emotions, tastes, thoughts, opinions and assessments; - control the flow of textual information on their Facebook profiles to secure their privacy. Focusing on discourse manifestations of identity, this book also shows how Facebook can function as a space for vernacular literacy practices, a silo of relationships, a digital memory bank, a research tool, a knowledge forum, a cardiograph of a society, and a grassroots channel.

Mariza Georgalou has a PhD from Lancaster University's Department of Linguistics and English Language, UK. Her research interests include social media discourse and identity construction.

This book not only contributes to broadening our understanding of Facebook as a discourse phenomenon but also offers new directions for online ethnography with a focus on both the production and reception of digital texts ... A well-researched discourse-based online ethnographic study and should be of interest to scholars and students of discourse analysis and multimodal studies. * Discourse & Communication * An excellent book on the multimodal construction of personal and collective identity on social-networking sites. With great analytical rigor, it pushes classic text-based identity frameworks in new directions, making a compelling case for the application of ethnographic approaches to the study of identity on the Internet. * Journal of Pragmatics * This book has concisely presented a methodological frame for the study of online identity construction, extending it from previous theorisations that generalised online identity studies without detailing analytical methods. * Language in Society * Built upon vivid examples drawn from a detailed online ethnography, Discourse and Identity on Facebook provides a comprehensive and in-depth examination of identity expressions on Facebook. The personal resonance shown in its ethnographic approach is impressive, and many readers will probably find themselves doing the same activities in their everyday online presence ... A valuable reading for anyone interested in computer mediated communication, and its attention to identity and daily expressions online would resonate strongly with the readers. * LINGUIST List * An engaging, multi-faceted and well-researched study of Facebook based on rich material. The book showcases the benefits of qualitative, discourse-analytic and ethnographic methods for the study of the intricate ways in which Facebook is linked with everyday life practices. It documents, with contextual sensitivity and painstaking analysis, the relations between the multi-modality of language afforded by Facebook and users' identities. It provides a compelling snapshot of the lived experience of the Greek crisis as it is being narrated by ordinary people on Facebook. An essential addition to the critical mass of qualitative studies of the ever-evolving and hugely popular social networking site of Facebook, with a welcomed focus on users' language and other multi-modal resources as valuable indicators of their identities. -- Alexandra Georgakopoulou, Professor of Discourse Analysis & Sociolinguistics, King's College London, UK A fascinating sourcebook for all undertaking qualitative research on the performance of identity online. Georgalou is an insightful and trustworthy guide. -- Julia Gillen, Senior Lecturer in Digital Literacies, Lancaster University, UK Well contrived, precise, and reported with rigor and clarity. Any reader interested in discourse and identity in social media would find this book valuable. * Internet Pragmatics * The book is highly accessible, engaging and clearly written. * Punctum *