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Analysing technological affordances of online interactions using conversation analysis
Meredith, Joanne
Meredith, Joanne
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2017-06-06
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Abstract
The use of conversation analysis (CA) as a method for analysing the interactional practices of online communication has been growing in recent years (Giles et al., 2015). A key challenge for analysing online communication is the varied platforms through which interaction can occur. This paper demonstrates how using CA and the concept of affordances (Hutchby, 2001) can provide a lens through which to analyse not only the interaction, but also the technological context of that interaction. A corpus of instant messaging chats, captured from Facebook chat using screen-capture software, is used as a case study to demonstrate how the concept of affordances can be used alongside CA analysis to address the role of technology in the interaction. Two key interactional practices – turn adjacency and openings – are analysed to show the insights that CA can offer for providing an in-depth analysis of online interaction. By using affordances as a lens through which CA analysis can be refracted, scholars using ‘digital CA’ can better develop an understanding of patterns of interaction across different interactional platforms.
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Meredith, J. (2017) Analysing technological affordances of online interactions using conversation analysis, Journal of Pragmatics, 115, pp. 42-55.
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Journal article
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en
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0378-2166
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This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council [Grant number: ES/I903321/1].