Abstract
The Internet and social media have had a profound influence on our everyday lives, but the most significant impact has been on how we communicate with others. Social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter are among the most visited sites on the Internet. Such locations allow users to create and develop bonds with individuals and groups, to form networks, and to construct and maintain an online image. Works from prominent language scholars, and those studying the field of social media, investigate the effect of social media on how we comprehend and communicate with those we interact with, both online and offline; how we live, interact and socialize within communities; and how we develop an understanding of the self in contemporary society.
This volume collects 10 diverse studies analysing language, identity and community on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and TripAdvisor. The chapters are organized into two sections. The first of these primarily investigates how Internet users employ linguistic and communicative means in social media to construct and maintain online identities, and discusses how such approaches may be compared to offline identity construction. The second half of the volume examines frameworks of connections between people, how groups and communities are formed on social media, and the linguistic and communication strategies that sustain such groups. The fundamental belief evident in all of the works presented in the book is that language in society is understood as an indicator of identity, as well as being of major significance to the communities of which people are a part.
In the first section of the book, Chapter 1, by Deumert, explores contemporary social networking applications as a space for the performance of a lucid self and the carnivalesque, arguing that digital spaces are informal public spaces where people can meet and relax. Page’s Chapter 2 focuses on hoaxes, hacking and humour by exploring the relationship between identity, impersonation and authenticity. In Chapter 3, Vásquez addresses identity in TripAdvisor, a user-generated online consumer review site, and discusses the relevance of authenticity in online reviews. Chapter 4, by Lee, details the relationship between identity performance and language choice in social media and how such choice may be shaped by existing practices in more traditional media. In Chapter 5, Leppänen and colleagues discuss entextualization and resemiotization as key resources for identity work in social media.
The second half of the book focuses on the construction of community on social media. Chapter 6, by Zappavigna, explores how social media are used to communicate our experience of the world and how we bond with others by forming communities of shared values. The volume editors devote Chapter 7 to discussing how multilingual users perceive their audience and how such perceptions shape users’ language choices as they construct and maintain trans-local communities. Takahashi’s Chapter 8 focuses on social media and connectivity in Japan by discussing Japanese young people’s relationship with social media in everyday life. Chapter 9, by Lenihan, investigates language policy in social media by looking at translation practices of the Facebook Translation app. In the final chapter of the book, Monaghan investigates social media and activism by presenting a case study of football fan activism in order to highlight how online and offline technologies work together to facilitate the aims of the group.
Collectively, the 10 chapters present an in-depth study of the means by which social media provide the resources for people to communicate with each other in today’s society. They examine the relevance of identity and authenticity online, and how these concepts are negotiated and exploited. The negotiation of authenticity is seen as a significant element of online activity within communities, which is also understood as an essential aspect of networking online. The volume examines the potential for cyber-activism concerning social issues and studies how social groups are able to align themselves using social media to engage other like-minded people. An important strand in the volume concerns how offline groups and communities are able to maintain relationships by using social media, and how users are able to mediate online means with offline practices and cultural values. The authors demonstrate that the intricate forms of online linguistic practices which negotiate identity, authenticity and community are continually developing, and furthermore, that they are having an impact on how individuals relate to and understand others; the understanding of the communities in which we live; and how we construct and maintain an image of the self in contemporary society.
The book states that it does not enter the debate as to whether online affiliations measure up to some pre-determined, often offline standard, but instead seeks to explore the ways in which people come together through social media and how they themselves perceive value and act on these connections, thus developing an understanding of what community in an increasing Internet-mediated world may entail. However, there is a fascinating thread throughout the book as the authors attempt to articulate and resolve the relationship between online and offline activity. The majority of the papers present studies using data collected from Facebook or Twitter, and it seems likely that a more varied selection of data sources may have strengthened the collection, as would a more in-depth discussion of multimodal data. Nevertheless, the book is a significant contribution to the field of social media and identity construction for students and fellow researchers alike.