2 research outputs found
Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones but Words Will Never Hurt Me...Until I See Them: A Qualitative Content Analysis of Trolls in Relation to the Gricean Maxims and (IM)Polite Virtual Speech Acts
The troll is one of the most obtrusive and disruptive bad actors on the internet. Unlike other bad actors, the troll interacts on a more personal and intimate level with other internet users. Social media platforms, online communities, comment boards, and chatroom forums provide them with this opportunity. What distinguishes these social provocateurs from other bad actors are their virtual speech acts and online behaviors. These acts aim to incite anger, shame, or frustration in others through the weaponization of words, phrases, and other rhetoric. Online trolls come in all forms and use various speech tactics to insult and demean their target audiences. The goal of this research is to investigate trolls\u27 virtual speech acts and the impact of troll-like behaviors on online communities. Using Gricean maxims and politeness theory, this study seeks to identify common vernacular, word usage, and other language behaviors that trolls use to divert the conversation, insult others, and possibly affect fellow internet users’ mental health and well-being
Recommended from our members
Beyond Lurking and Trolling: Examination of College Student Literacy Practices in Online Asynchronous Discussion Spaces
Over the course of the past 15 years, college student populations as well as information technologies have undergone dramatic changes. Today’s college populations are more diverse as women, minorities, non-traditional students and veterans are the fastest growing populations. Additionally, the number of people enrolled in colleges has gone from 4.9 million in 2000 to 20.2 million in 2017. Simultaneously, the growth and proliferation of information technologies have changed the ways information is consumed and social relationships formed. The Internet, and discursive spaces that are specific to it, allow people to learn at their own pace, connect across national borders, and experiment with identities. This dissertation worked towards understanding how various college populations interact with online spaces, particularly asynchronous online spaces such as Reddit, Quora, Amazon product reviews, and various other spaces. The qualitative data collected for the dissertation included a survey of 84 participants and interviews with 12 participants. The data were analyzed using a theoretical framework based on Socio-Cultural Theories of Literacies, Critical Media Studies, and Postcolonial Theory. Findings and implications of this dissertation show a need for increased involvement in critical media literacies education of college students, and a need for educators to build culturally responsive, civic-based, and globally minded curricula rooted in student information technology usage