[Resumo] Neste traballo analízanse as características da comunicación electrónica, un novo medio de interacción favorecido polo avanzo da Enxeñaría Informática e das Tecnoloxías da Información e da Comunicación que permite ás persoas intercambiaren información de modo sincrónico ou asincrónico con independencia da súa localización física. En concreto, focaremos a nosa atención nas propiedades discursivas destes novos sistemas, que partillan trazos coa escrita e coa oralidade, mais tamén presentan elementos idiosincráticos (comunicación in absentia, copresenza virtual, permanencia textual etc.), resultado das características do medio que os alberga. Estes datos permiten afirmarmos que estamos perante unha nova modalidade comunicativa, independente a respecto da oralidade e da escrita e específica do medio dixital.[Abstract] This paper examines the characteristics of electronic communication, a new means of interaction furthered by the advance of computer engineering and the Information and Communication Technologies, which enables people to exchange information in a synchronous or asynchronous mode, regardless of their physical location. In particular, we will focus our attention on the discursive properties of these new systems, which share traits with writing and speaking, but also have idiosyncratic elements (communication in absentia, simultaneous virtual presence, textual persistence etc.) as a result of the characteristics of the medium that contains them. These data allow us to affirm that we are facing a new mode of communication, independent of the oral and written mode and specific from Virtual Space
