According to boyd and Ellison (2007:2), “Social network sites [are] web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.” People use such services to represent their personality online, thus facilitating communication with friends and also the maintenance of social ties. Clearly, the most successful (and influential) of those networks is Facebook. Established in 2004 as an exclusive community for Harvard students, it opened for the general public in 2006 and has since then gathered over 1 billion members all across the globe, currently holding second place of the most visited websites worldwide.
Human communication has always been characterised by the recycling of language. When people talk, a great extent of the content of their discussion is devoted to what other people have already said. In doing so, speakers refer to utterances made by themselves or others inter alia by repetition and paraphrasing. They do so simply to report other people’s words but also to evaluate what has been said. Quoting has also found its way to communication media online, due to the technical properties of computer-supported environments facilitating the act of accurately reproducing a previously made statement.
Characteristically, Facebook employs mechanisms of automated text creation and distribution to support the users in making quotations. These mechanisms though, can be very complex and impenetrable. This is why I strive to provide insight into the process of quoting on Facebook in this paper. To do so, I will provide insight into the basics of the scientific field of computer-mediated communication as well as the structural principle of hypertexts in online environments. Following that, I am going to employ a newly shaped definition of the act of quoting by Bublitz in an examination of the most common text actions on the social network site Facebook. Thereby, I plan to come up with a framework of quotations on Facebook in both user-created and software-created texts.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Facebook – the user’s perspective
3. Communicating online: the basics of CMC
3.1. CMC on Facebook
3.2. Hypertexts
3.3. Facebook as a hypertext
4. How does speech work on Facebook?
5. Quoting according to Bublitz
5.1. The forms of quoting on Facebook
5.2. The functions of quoting on Facebook
6. Quoting on Facebook
6.1. Common text actions on Facebook’s Timeline
6.2. User-authored text actions
6.3. Software authored-text actions
7. Quotations on Facebook – look who’s speaking!
7.1. Quotations in user-authored posts
7.2. Quotations in software-authored posts
7.3. Summary
8. Conclusion
Objectives and Research Themes
This work aims to provide a comprehensive framework for understanding the mechanisms and functions of quoting on the social network site Facebook. By applying a pragmatic definition of quoting and integrating speech act theory with the concept of software as a "third author," the study examines how both user-authored and software-authored texts function as quotations in a computer-mediated environment.
- The linguistic characteristics of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and the structural principles of hypertexts.
- The distinction between user-authored "Creative Text Actions" and software-authored "Automated Text Actions."
- An analysis of how Facebook’s interface and algorithms influence the context, focus, and evaluative perspective of quoted content.
- The role of quotations in identity construction and social maintenance within a networked environment.
Excerpt from the Book
3.2. Hypertexts
The primary way people interact on the Internet is through the reception of text on a computer screen and the input of text with the help of a keyboard. What most people lack, however, is an understanding of the actual mechanisms behind what they are seeing on their screens. The internet is a network of numerous interconnected computers that enables data transfer across any distance. This data transfer is being facilitated even further through the World Wide Web, “a system of computer servers which are connected through the Internet to support the exchange of files which are formatted mostly in HTML (hypertext markup language7)” (Arendholz 2013: 7). In contrast to traditional text, which is generally seen as written language8, hypertext eludes such a clear definition. The Media and Communication Dictionary (2011: 93) describes a hypertext document as follows:
A document with embedded links called hyperlinks on images and/or highlighted words or phrases that when clicked on take the reader to other parts of the document. Hypertext allows information to be retrieved in a flexible, non-linear way. (Kleinman 2011: 93)
Although this delineation provides a fundamental understanding of hypertext, it misses some of its characteristics. Kleinman in fact describes what Storrer (2000: 236) calls Closed Hypertexts (namely “Geschlossene Hypertexte”), which feature a set number of linked modules in contrast to an opposing concept of open hypertexts (namely “Offene Hypertexte”), which stand out through “open ends” for users to add new modules. In the same paper, Storrer provides a more thorough definition for hypertext in general, originally drawn up by Berk/Devlin in 1991:
“Hypertext: The technology of non-sequential reading and writing. Hypertext is technique, data structure, and user interface. (…) A hypertext (or hyperdocument) is an assemblage of texts, images, and sounds – nodes – connected by electronic links as to form a system, whose existence is contingent upon the computer. The user/reader moves from node to node either by following established links or by creating new ones.” (Berk/Devlin, in: Storrer 2000: 227)
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the research context, highlighting the significance of social network sites like Facebook for modern communication and outlining the primary goal of investigating the quoting process within these environments.
2. Facebook – the user’s perspective: This section provides an overview of the Facebook user interface, describing the functions of the homepage, personal profile, newsfeed, and timeline in the context of user interaction.
3. Communicating online: the basics of CMC: This chapter explores the linguistic foundations of computer-mediated communication, discussing the hybrid nature of online discourse and the critical role of hypertext structures.
4. How does speech work on Facebook?: This section adapts speech act theory to the digital environment, distinguishing between user-authored and software-authored text actions to explain how meaning is created and distributed.
5. Quoting according to Bublitz: This chapter establishes the theoretical framework for "quoting" as an act of context-shifting and evaluates its forms and functions within modern communication media.
6. Quoting on Facebook: This chapter categorizes common text entries on Facebook, analyzing them as either user-generated or software-generated based on the level of technical involvement in their creation.
7. Quotations on Facebook – look who’s speaking!: This chapter applies the previously established definition of quoting to specific Facebook post types, analyzing how these actions function as quotations and their potential perlocutionary effects.
8. Conclusion: This chapter synthesizes the research findings, emphasizing that quoting is an essential, yet often automated, component of Facebook communication that significantly influences how users interact and maintain social ties.
Keywords
Facebook, Computer-mediated communication, CMC, Hypertext, Quoting, Speech act theory, Creative Text Actions, Automated Text Actions, Identity construction, Digital discourse, Social network sites, Third author, Context shift, Multimodality, User interface
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this work?
This work explores the linguistic and structural nature of quoting within the social network site Facebook, analyzing how communication on the platform is shaped by both human intentions and automated software processes.
What are the central themes of the study?
The central themes include the classification of Facebook text actions, the application of pragmatic quoting definitions in digital environments, and the role of the platform's software as a "third author" that influences social interaction.
What is the core research question?
The research investigates how the act of quoting, traditionally defined by context-shifting and focus-changing, is realized through Facebook's specific technical interface and automated text generation features.
Which scientific methodology is utilized?
The study employs a qualitative approach, combining speech act theory (specifically the work of Searle and Eisenlauer) with a usage-based pragmatic perspective of quoting developed by Wolfram Bublitz.
What does the main body of the work cover?
The main body systematically describes the basics of CMC and hypertexts, categorizes common Facebook post types (like Status Updates, Shares, and Life Events), and analyzes these categories for their potential to function as quotations.
Which keywords best characterize this research?
Key terms include Computer-mediated communication, hypertext, quoting, speech act theory, automated text actions, and identity construction on social media platforms.
How does the author define the "third author" concept on Facebook?
The "third author" concept refers to the Facebook software itself, which intervenes in the communicative flow between users by automatically generating and distributing text actions like "Like" notifications or "Life Event" updates.
Why is "context" critical to the author's definition of quoting?
Context is essential because a quote functions by taking content from a prior context and shifting it into a new one, thereby disrupting ongoing discourse and ascribing a new, evaluative perspective to the quoted information.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Julian Botzenhardt (Autor:in), 2014, Quoting on Facebook. An Attempt at a Categorisation for Quotations on Social Network Sites, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/294599
