Bolander, Brook and Locher, Miriam A.. (2015) “Peter is a dumb nut”: Status updates and reactions to them as 'acts of positioning' in Facebook. Pragmatics, 25 (1). pp. 99-122.
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Official URL: http://edoc.unibas.ch/dok/A6243488
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Abstract
This paper applies the theoretical concept of ‘acts of positioning’ (Davis and Harré, 1990) to a qualitative and quantitative analysis of 474 Status Updates (SUs) taken from the Facebook Walls of twenty individuals living in Switzerland and the UK. Our aim is to analyze how individuals construct their identities through the use of language. The results show that individuals position themselves in five central ways, i.e., they stress aspects of their personality, pastime endeavors, sense of humor, work and relationship. Through a subsequent analysis of 228 Reactions to Status Updates (RSUs), we also address how these acts are responded to, and thereby demonstrate that individuals predominantly support identity claims made in the SUs. Our paper contributes to existing research on language and identity in Social Network Sites (SNSs), and demonstrates the fruitful application of the concept of ‘acts of positioning’.
Faculties and Departments: | 04 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > Departement Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften > Fachbereich Englische Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft > English Linguistics (Locher) |
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UniBasel Contributors: | Locher, Miriam A. and Bolander, Brook |
Item Type: | Article, refereed |
Article Subtype: | Research Article |
Publisher: | IPrA |
ISSN: | 1018-2101 |
Note: | Publication type according to Uni Basel Research Database: Journal article |
Language: | English |
Identification Number: | |
edoc DOI: | |
Last Modified: | 18 Jul 2017 13:40 |
Deposited On: | 10 Apr 2015 09:12 |
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