This book explores mechanisms of discourse and power on social media. KhosraviNik and Kelsey adopt interdisciplinary transnational perspectives on current debates about the role of social media in society. Using case studies from UK, US and Middle Eastern contexts which will be of interest to those within the field of critical discourse studies (CDS) and beyond, this book provides complex explorations of ideology and power in online/offline environments. By proposing a unique model for understanding the multiple mechanisms of macro and micro power on social media, the authors develop an innovative approach to CDS that is appropriate for future research. As a socially oriented critical study of communication, this book argues that CDS cannot shy away from accounting for changes both at the micro-analytical and macro-contextual dynamics. Tackling topics such as the discursive construction of a nationalist identity in Iranian Facebook, the complex power relations behind 'the Twitter Joke trial', and what a fight on a Connecticut beach can reveal about discourse and surveillance culture, Kelsey and KhosraviNik build on their previous research on the discursive practices of power, ideology, language, surveillance and social media to show how CDS can continue to adapt and evolve by accounting for digital media discourses.

Social media such as microblogging services and social networking sites are changing the way people interact online and search for information and opinions. This book investigates linguistic patterns in electronic discourse,looking at online evaluative language, Internet slang, memes and ambient affiliation using a large Twitter corpus (over 100 million tweets) alongside specialized case studies. The author argues that we are currently witnessing a cultural movement from online conversation to what can be termed 'searchable talk' - online talk where people affiliate by making their discourse findable (for example, via metadata such as Twitter hashtags) by others holding similar interests. This cutting edge text will be of interest to all scholars and students dealing with electronically mediated discourse.

This volume sets out to analyse the relation between social media and politics by investigating the power of the internet and more specifically social media, in the political and social discourse. The volume collects original research on the use of social media in political campaigns, electoral marketing, riots and social revolutions, presenting a range of case studies from across the world as well as theoretical and methodological contributions. Examples that explore the use of social media in electoral campaigns include, for instance, studies on the use of Face book in the 2012 US presidential campaign and in the 2011 Turkish general elections. The final section of the book debates the usage of Twitter and other Web 2.0 tools in mobilizing people for riots and revolutions, presenting and analysing recent events in Istanbul and Egypt, among others.

Media and politics have always been mutually influential. The media plays an important political role of its own in promoting and discussing policies, as well as conveying representations of power and ideology. On the other hand, media outlets are themselves subject to political forces that have an impact on their editorial line. This mutual influence comes to light not only in journalistic practices, but also in how news is constructed and conveyed. This volume explores the relations between politics and various types of media as expressed in different areas of the world, namely Europe, Asia, the Americas, and the Middle East. Such a complex landscape calls for a multiplicity of analytical tools and cannot ignore specific socio-political, geographic, linguistic, and cultural contexts which may be overlooked when approached from a global perspective. In this volume, a combination of senior scholars and young experts from a wide range of disciplines, such as discourse analysis, international relations, and cultural studies, come together in a conversation which recognizes the media as a global phenomenon without neglecting its local specificities.

Critical Discourse Studies (CDS) aims to enhance our understanding of how discourse figures in social processes, social structures, and social change. This book is in response to specific changes in mediation technologies of discourse, brought about by the significant concentration of discursive practices within the paradigm of social media communication. This book addresses this participatory media context against a broadly defined tradition in CDS, its aspirations, assumptions, and critique. It views discourse as forms of structured representations across a range of modalities of communication including the emerging meaning‐making artefacts and practices across social media. It aspires to provide an overview of the key considerations in doing CDS on social media spaces. The book firstly provides a set of aspiration signposting the parameters of doing social media CDS followed by critical explorations of a number of contemporary case studies of digital discourses around identity, politics and representation. It includes various social media communication including YouTube, Instagram, Wikipedia, and Twitter. The book will be of interest to researchers and advanced students of linguistics, politics, sociology, communication studies, media and cultural studies, and science and technology studies. It was originally published as a special issue of the journal Critical Discourse Studies.

In the age of iDeology – in which individual access and participation to technology is about to replace the rich texture of religion, culture, tradition and political convictions – the social impact of media discourse only magnifies. This volume is an attempt to explore the influence of ever-available communication content on the minds and behavior of a population that has made the permanent and often obsessive use of communication technology a defining element of social orientation. Unlike the many accounts that focus on the remarkably redefined patterns in the context of Western society – ranging from twittering Presidents to the emerging populist movements all over Europe – this volume portrays the situation from the frequently neglected perspective of the global periphery. As opposed to simply transfer and measure perspectives taken from a Western point of view, the clear intention of this volume is to provide ample space for the sincere and explorative consideration of local characteristics and settings of the different social, cultural and political contexts and therefore contribute to providing the ground for future research.

Online platforms have widened the availability for citizen engagement and opportunities for politicians to interact with their constituents. The increasing use of these technologies has transformed methods of governmental communication in online and offline environments. (R)evolutionizing Political Communications through Social Media offers crucial perspectives on the utilization of online social networks in political discourse and how these alterations have affected previous modes of correspondence. Highlighting key issues through theoretical foundations and pertinent case studies, this book is a pivotal reference source for researchers, professionals, upper-level students, and consultants interested in the influence of emerging technologies in the political arena.

Discourse and Social Media is a unique and timely collection that breaks ground on how discourse scholars, coming from a range of disciplinary perspectives, can critically analyse different social media, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and News. The book fills a gap in the market for a multi-disciplinary collection for analysing the discourse of social media. In providing a thorough review of the field to date, the opening chapter considers some of the common and divergent interests and priorities that exist in social media discourse analysis. It also discusses the wider methodological and theoretical implications which social media analysis brings to the process of discourse analysis, as new forms of connections and communication call us to re-think the static models that we have been using. The rest of the collection draws on different traditions in discourse studies, including Critical Discourse Analysis, Sociolinguistics, Pragmatics, Foucaultian analysis and Multimodality, to bring several unique approaches to critically analysing social media from a discourse perspective. Each ground-breaking chapter shows how different forms of social media data can best be selected, analysed, and dealt with critically. As a whole, Discourse and Social Media provides a go-to resource for social media scholars, as well as graduate students. The book is a significant contribution to the development of the field at this present shifting time. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Multicultural Discourses.

Social Media and Society brings together a range of scholars working at the intersection of discourse studies, digital media, and society. It is meant to respond to changes in discourse technologies, i.e. the techno-discursive dynamic of social media discourses. The book critically engages with the digital dynamics of representations around discourses of identity, politics, and culture. Other than its topical focus on highly pertinent discourses, the book aspires to offer some fresh insights into the theory, methods, and implementation of CDS in digital environments. The book can be viewed as part of the developing research framework of Social Media Critical Discourse Studies which seeks to integrate the impact of new mediation technologies on discursive meaning-making with its critical contextualisation. In addition to its strongly global outlook, the book incorporates a wide range of research perspectives including CDA, sociolinguistics, political discourse studies, media and technology, discourse theory, popular culture, feminism etc.