Klassika zhanra: The flamewar as a genre in the Russian blogosphere

Face effects of verbal antagonism in online discussions

“…The properties of the medium and the structure of online discussion sites enable participants to engage in multi-party dialogue to an extent that is not physically possible in face-to-face communication; an online discussion can potentially involve hundreds of contributors. This, in turn, stimulates the formation of discourse communities (Garcés-Conejos Blitvich 2010;Lorenzo-Dus and Garcés-Conejos Blitvich 2011;Perelmutter 2013;Upadh yay 2010). Besides offering a space for users to construct and project their own individual identities, online discussion boards thus also enable participants to cultivate and project a social identity, aligning themselves with the values of a given community and engaging in acts of social bonding with other community members.…”

“…This article focuses on one of the most salient properties of the genre -the prevalence of verbal antagonism among participants in online discussions (Angouri and Tseliga 2010;Bolander 2013;Hardaker 2010Hardaker , 2013Hopkinson 2012Hopkinson , 2013Kleinke 2010;Lewis 2005;Neurauter-Kessels 2011;Perelmutter 2013;Reid 1999;Shum and Lee 2013;Upadhyay 2010; this list also includes studies of related genres, e.g. blog discussions).…”

“…The genre thus offers an ideal environment for intensely antagonistic behaviour to flourish, with some participants evidently feeling licensed to behave towards their opponents with a degree of heightened aggression that they would generally avoid in FTF interaction. Typical patterns of verbal behaviour in online discussions include the rapid escalation of conflictswhich quickly descend into exchanges of personal insults known as "flamewars" (Angouri and Tseliga 2010;Perelmutter 2013) -and the deliberately disruptive behaviour known as "trolling" (Hardaker 2010(Hardaker , 2013Hopkinson 2013).…”

Intercultural (Im)politeness

“…Part of the problem for the researchers is, of course, establishing the extent to which digitally-mediated interactions can be analysed as interpersonal, intergroup or intercultural in nature, as in many such interactions the background of participants is not readily accessible (either to the other participants or the researcher). Yet intergroup conflicts mediated through various forms of digital communication are clearly on the rise (Kádár, Haugh & Chang, 2013;Lorenzo-Dus, Blitvich & Bou-Franch, 2011;Perelmutter, 2013). It thus appears to be an area ripe for further analysis and theorisation that will enrich our understanding of intercultural (im)politeness more generally.…”

Reporting from the Field: The Narrative Reconstruction of Experience in Pick-up Artist Online Communities

“…The three critical dimensions of a CofP include mutual engagement, a joint negotiated enterprise and a shared repertoire of negotiable resources accumulated over time (ibid.). In recent work on computer-mediated communication (CMC), the CofP framework has been usefully applied to virtual environments to cover digitally-based communities of practice (Graham 2007;Hössjer 2013;Perelmutter 2013). The members of PUA forums form their community ties based on the practices surrounding the scientificated seduction techniques, including learning the skills, practicing them, and reporting on the achievements.…”