Evaluation and Computer-Mediated Communication: Reddit as a case in point (Ringvorlesung Sprache und Kommunikation: verbal, digital, multimodal)

Thomas Messerli

Online texts and social media in particular are full of evaluation. Posts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc., but also longer contributions in the form of blogs, reviews, website articles are often defined by motivational and linguistic evaluative practices.

Theoretical frameworks in linguistics

• Evaluation | Appraisal Theory | Stance

• Pragmatics, Corpus Pragmatics

• Computer-mediated communication

Data

Reddit submissions (posts) and comments (responses) from r/changemyview and other subreddits

Question: What interesting insights about evaluative practices online can we take stock of as resarchers in linguistics?

Relevance: Thinking about further aspects of communication online in general and shorter posts on social media as well as online communities in particular. Approaching different types of evaluation in other domains.