1887
Volume 8, Issue 2
  • ISSN 2542-3851
  • E-ISSN: 2542-386X

Abstract

Screenshots have become a ubiquitous form of visual communication in current digital discourse. Despite similarities to photographs, screenshots differ in the mechanical nature of their production and blur the boundaries between written text and images, often displaying written text seamlessly integrated as visual attachments in written conversations. Drawing on a sample of excerpts from WhatsApp chats among young people in Spain, this study uses digital conversation analysis (DCA) as a methodological framework to analyse the sequential position of screenshots in instant messaging interactions, as well as intermodal coherence and cohesion. In addition to providing a better understanding of this distinct form of visual discourse in everyday interactions, the findings also provide insight into the role of screenshots in contemporary digital literacies.

Available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/ip.00130.sam
2025-07-17
2026-05-19
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/ip.00130.sam.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1075/ip.00130.sam&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Androutsopoulos, Jannis
    2014 “Moments of sharing: Entextualization and linguistic repertoires in social networking.” Journal of Pragmatics731: 4–18. 10.1016/j.pragma.2014.07.013
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2014.07.013 [Google Scholar]
  2. 2021 “Polymedia in interaction.” Pragmatics and Society1251: 707–724. 10.1075/ps.21069.int
    https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.21069.int [Google Scholar]
  3. Berglund, Therese Örnberg
    2009 “Disrupted turn adjacency and coherence maintenance in instant messaging conversations.” Language@Internet61, article 2. https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/li/article/view/37578 (accessed22 March 2022).
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Bolter, Jay David and Robert Grusin
    2000Remediation: Understanding New Media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Cánovas, Guillermo, Alicia García de Pablo, Ana Oliaga San Atilano, and Isabel Aboy Ferrer
    2014 “Menores de edad y conectividad móvil en España: tablets y smartphones [Minors and mobile connectivity in Spain: Tablets and smartphones].” https://www.observatoriodelainfancia.es/oia/esp/descargar.aspx?id=4138&tipo=documento (accessed20 March 2024).
  6. Charaudeau, Patrick, and Dominique Maingueneau
    2002Dictionnaire d”analyse du discours [Dictionary of Discourse Analysis]. Paris: Éditions du Seuil.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Chen, Ying-Yu, Frank Bentley, Christian Holz, and Cheng Xu
    2015 “Sharing (and discussing) the moment: The conversations that occur around shared mobile media.” InProceedings of the 17th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services, 264–273. Copenhagen: ACM. 10.1145/2785830.2785868
    https://doi.org/10.1145/2785830.2785868 [Google Scholar]
  8. Coluccini, Roberto
    2020 “How the screenshot became one of the internet’s most powerful tools.” Vice, 29 June. https://www.vice.com/en/article/history-of-the-screenshot (accessed7 October 2024).
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Corry, Frances
    2021 “Screenshot, save, share, shame: Making sense of new media through screenshots and public shame.” First Monday26(4). 10.5210/fm.v26i4.11649
    https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v26i4.11649 [Google Scholar]
  10. Cortés Rodríguez, Luis
    1991Sobre conectores, expletivos y muletillas en el español hablado [On Conjunctions, Expletives and Fillers in Spoken Spanish]. Málaga: Agora.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Cramer, Emily M., Bryan M. Jenkins, and Yoonmo Sang
    2023 “What’s behind that screenshot? Digital windows and capturing data on screen.” Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies29(3): 467–480. 10.1177/13548565221089211
    https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565221089211 [Google Scholar]
  12. Drew, Paul
    2013 Turn designs. InThe Handbook of Conversation Analysis, ed byJack Sidnell, and Tanya Stivers, 131–149. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Eisenlauer, Volker
    2014 “Facebook: A multimodal discourse analysis of (semi)automated communicative modes.” InInteractions, Images and Texts: A Reader in Multimodality, ed. bySigrid Norris, and Carmen Daniela Maier, 311–322. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. 10.1515/9781614511175.311
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614511175.311 [Google Scholar]
  14. Frosh, Paul
    2019The Poetics of Digital Media. Cambridge: Polity Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. 2023 “Screenshots and the memory of photography.” InScreen Images: In-Game Photography, Screenshot, Screencast, ed. byWinfried Gerling, Sebastian Möring, and Marco De Muttis, 173–192. Berlin: Kulturverlag Kadmos Berlin.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Gerling, Winfried, Sebastian Möring, and Marco De Mutiis
    (eds.) 2023Screen Images: In-Game Photography, Screenshot, Screencast. Berlin: Kulturverlag Kadmos. 10.55309/c3ie61k5
    https://doi.org/10.55309/c3ie61k5 [Google Scholar]
  17. Gershon, Ilona
    2010 “Breaking up is hard to do: Media ideologies and media switching.” Journal of Linguistic Anthropology2021: 389–405. 10.1111/j.1548‑1395.2010.01076.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1395.2010.01076.x [Google Scholar]
  18. 2020 “The Breakup 2.1: The ten-year update.” The Information Society3651: 279–289. 10.1080/01972243.2020.1798316
    https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2020.1798316 [Google Scholar]
  19. Giles, David, Wyke Stommel, and Trena M. Paulus
    2017 “The microanalysis of online data: The next stage.” Journal of Pragmatics1151: 37–41. 10.1016/j.pragma.2017.02.007
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2017.02.007 [Google Scholar]
  20. Giles, David, Wyke Stommel, Trena Paulus, Jessica Lester, and Darren Reed
    2015 “Microanalysis of online data: The methodological development of ‘Digital CA’.” Discourse, Context & Media71: 45–51. 10.1016/j.dcm.2014.12.002
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2014.12.002 [Google Scholar]
  21. Goffman, Erving
    1959The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Doubleday.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Gómez Cruz, Edgar and Ramaswaami Harindranath
    2020 “WhatsApp as ‘technology of life’: Reframing research agendas.” First Monday25(12). https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/10405 (accessed20 March 2023).
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Goodwin, Charles
    1981Conversational Organisation: Interactions between Speakers and Hearers. New York: Academic Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Goodwin, Marjorie H.
    2006 “Participation, affect, and trajectory in family directive/response sequences.” Text & Talk26(4–5): 515–543. 10.1515/TEXT.2006.021
    https://doi.org/10.1515/TEXT.2006.021 [Google Scholar]
  25. Grice, H. Paul
    1975 “Logic and conversation.” InSpeech Acts, ed. byPeter Cole, and Jerry L. Morgan, 41–58. New York: Academic Press. 10.1163/9789004368811_003
    https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004368811_003 [Google Scholar]
  26. Halliday, Michael, and Ruqaia Hasan
    1976Cohesion in English. London: Longman.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Herring, Susan
    1999 “Interactional coherence in CMC.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication4(4), JCMC444. 10.1111/j.1083‑6101.1999.tb00106.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.1999.tb00106.x [Google Scholar]
  28. Herring, Susan C.
    2007 “A faceted classification scheme for computer-mediated discourse.” Language@Internet41, article 1. www.languageatinternet.org/articles/2007/761 (accessed20 March 2023).
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Hutchby, Ian
    2001 “Technologies, texts and affordances.” Sociology35(2): 441–456. 10.1177/S0038038501000219
    https://doi.org/10.1177/S0038038501000219 [Google Scholar]
  30. Ingber, Alexis Shore
    2025 “Understanding screenshot collection and sharing on messaging platforms: A privacy perspective.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication30(1), zmae023. 10.1093/jcmc/zmae023
    https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmae023 [Google Scholar]
  31. Jaynes, Victoria
    2020 “The social life of screenshots: The power of visibility in teen friendship groups.” New Media & Society22(8): 1378–1393. 10.1177/1461444819878806
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444819878806 [Google Scholar]
  32. Jenkins, Bryan M., and Emily M. Cramer
    2022 “Capturing injustice: The screenshot as a tool for sousveillance.” Howard Journal of Communications33(4): 412–433. 10.1080/10646175.2022.2032884
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10646175.2022.2032884 [Google Scholar]
  33. Koivisto, Aino, Mikko T. Virtanen, and Heidi Vepsäläinen
    2023 “Applying conversation analysis to digital interaction.” InConversation Analytical Perspectives to Digital Interaction: Practices, Resources, and Affordances, ed. byAino Koivisto, Heidi Vepsäläinen, and Mikko T. Virtanen, 7–32. Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society. 10.21435/sflin.22
    https://doi.org/10.21435/sflin.22 [Google Scholar]
  34. König, Katharina
    2019 “Stance taking with ‘laugh’ particles and emojis–Sequential and functional patterns of ‘laughter’ in a corpus of German Whatsapp chats.” Journal of Pragmatics1421: 156–170. 10.1016/j.pragma.2019.01.008
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2019.01.008 [Google Scholar]
  35. 2024 “Transmodal messenger interaction–Analysing the sequentiality of text and audio postings in WhatsApp chats.” Discourse, Context & Media621, 100818. 10.1016/j.dcm.2024.100818
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2024.100818 [Google Scholar]
  36. Kress, Gunther
    2010Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication. Abingdon: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Ling, Richard
    2008New Tech, New Ties: How Mobile Communication is Reshaping Social Cohesion. Cambridge: MIT Press. 10.7551/mitpress/7568.001.0001
    https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/7568.001.0001 [Google Scholar]
  38. Madianou, Mirka
    2014 “Smartphones as polymedia.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication1931: 667–680. 10.1111/jcc4.12069
    https://doi.org/10.1111/jcc4.12069 [Google Scholar]
  39. Madianou, Mirka, and Daniel Miller
    2012 “Polymedia: Towards a new theory of digital media in interpersonal communication.” International Journal of Cultural Studies1621: 169–187. 10.1177/1367877912452486
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1367877912452486 [Google Scholar]
  40. Marmorstein, Michal
    2023 “Why say ‘hi’? Framed openings in Hebrew WhatsApp messaging.” InA Conversation Analytic Perspectives to Digital Interaction: Practices, Resources and Affordances, ed. byAino Koivisto, Mikko T. Virtanen, and Heidi Vepsäläinen, 43–70. Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society. 10.21435/sflin.22
    https://doi.org/10.21435/sflin.22 [Google Scholar]
  41. Marmorstein, Michal, and Katharina König
    2021 “Adapted and emergent practices in text-based digital discourse: The microanalysis of mobile messaging chats.” Discourse, Context & Media421, 100521. 10.1016/j.dcm.2021.100521
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2021.100521 [Google Scholar]
  42. Meredith, Joanne
    2017 “Analysing technological affordances of online interactions using conversation analysis.” Journal of Pragmatics1151: 42–55. 10.1016/j.pragma.2017.03.001
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2017.03.001 [Google Scholar]
  43. 2019 “Conversation analysis and online interaction.” Research on Language and Social Interaction52(3): 241–256. 10.1080/08351813.2019.1631040
    https://doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2019.1631040 [Google Scholar]
  44. Mondada, Lorenza
    2014 “Pointing, talk and the bodies: Reference and joint attention as embodied interactional achievements.” InFrom Gesture in Conversation to Visible Action as Utterance: Essays in Honor of Adam Kendon, ed. byMandana Seyfeddinipur, and Marianne Gullberg, 95–124. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.10.1075/z.188.06mon
    https://doi.org/10.1075/z.188.06mon [Google Scholar]
  45. Mottelson, Aske
    2023 “Why do people take screenshots on their smartphones?” InProceedings of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference, 740–752. Pittsburgh: ACM. 10.1145/3563657.3596067
    https://doi.org/10.1145/3563657.3596067 [Google Scholar]
  46. Oloff, Florence
    2021 “New technologies — new social conduct? A sequential and multimodal approach to smartphone use in face-to-face interaction.” Bulletin Suisse de Linguistique Appliquée11: 13–34. https://www.vals-asla.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/Journal/Special_2021_vol_1_def_A4.pdf (accessed20 March 2023)..
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Papacharissi, Zizi
    2010A Networked Self: Identity, Community, and Culture on Social Network Sites. New York: Routledge. 10.4324/9780203876527
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203876527 [Google Scholar]
  48. Paulus, Trena, Amber Warren, and Jessica Nina Lester
    2016 “Applying conversation analysis methods to online talk: A literature review.” Discourse, Context & Media121: 1–10. 10.1016/j.dcm.2016.04.001
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2016.04.001 [Google Scholar]
  49. Rios, Josh
    2012 “Thoughts on making pictures of the screen from snapshot to screenshot.” fromsnapshottoscreenshot.blogspot.com (accessed9 October 2024).
  50. Sampietro, Agnese
    2021 “The use of the ‘face with tears of joy’ emoji on WhatsApp: A conversation-analytical approach.” InWorkshop Proceedings of the 15th International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media. Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. 10.36190/2021.03
    https://doi.org/10.36190/2021.03 [Google Scholar]
  51. Sampietro, Agnese, and Katharina König
    2024 “The medium is accountable: Metacommunication and media ideologies about voice messages in WhatsApp chats.” Discourse & Communication1811: 51–71. 10.1177/17504813231187109
    https://doi.org/10.1177/17504813231187109 [Google Scholar]
  52. Schegloff, Emanuel A.
    1990 “On the organization of sequences as a source of ‘coherence’ in talk-in- interaction.” InConversational Organization and Its Development, ed. byBruce Dorval, 51–77. Noewood, NJ: Ablex.
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Simpson, James
    2005 “Meaning-making online: Discourse and CMC in a language learning community.” InProceedings of the Third International Conference on Multimedia and Information & Communication Technologies in Education Recent Research Developments in Learning Technologies, 175–179. Badajoz: Formatex.
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Stæhr, Andreas Candefors, and Thomas Rørbeck Nørreby
    2021 “The metapragmatics of mode choice.” Pragmatics and Society12(5): 756–781. 10.1075/ps.20050.can
    https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.20050.can [Google Scholar]
  55. Stöckl, Hartmut
    2015 From text linguistics to multimodality: Mapping concepts and methods across domains. InBuilding Bridges for Multimodal Research: International Perspectives on Theories and Practices of Multimodal Analysis, ed. byJanina Wildfeuer, 51–75. Bern: Peter Lang.
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Švelch, Jan
    2021 “Redefining screenshots: Toward critical literacy of screen capture practices.” Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies27(2): 554–569. 10.1177/1354856520950184
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856520950184 [Google Scholar]
  57. Tagg, Caroline, and Rachel Hu
    2017 “Sharing as a conversational turn in digital interaction.” Woking Papers in Translanguaging and Translation, Paper 29. https://tlang.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/sharing-as-a-conversational-turn-in-digital-interaction.pdf (accessed20 March 2023).
    [Google Scholar]
  58. Tagg, Caroline, and Agnieszka Lyons
    2021 “Polymedia repertoires of networked individuals: A day-in-the-life approach.” Pragmatics and Society12(5): 725–755. 10.1075/ps.20051.tag
    https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.20051.tag [Google Scholar]
  59. 2022Mobile Messaging and Resourcefulness: A Post-Digital Ethnography. New York: Routledge. 10.4324/9780429031465
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429031465 [Google Scholar]
  60. 2024 “Conversational rhythm as a disconnective practice among middle-aged adults in situated mobile-messaging interactions.” Journal of Pragmatics2291: 56–70. 10.1016/j.pragma.2024.05.006
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2024.05.006 [Google Scholar]
  61. Thelwall, Mike, Olga Goriunova, Farida Vis, Simon Faulkner, Anne Burns, Jim Aulich, Amalia Mas-Bleda, Emma Stuart, and Francesco D’Orazio
    2016 “Chatting through pictures? A classification of images tweeted in one week in the UK and USA.” Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology67(11): 2575–2586. 10.1002/asi.23620
    https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.23620 [Google Scholar]
  62. Urban, Alex C.
    2022 “Mementos from digital worlds: Video game photography as documentation.” Journal of Documentation7921: 398–414. 10.1108/jd‑01‑2022‑0028
    https://doi.org/10.1108/jd-01-2022-0028 [Google Scholar]
  63. Virtanen, Mikko T., Heidi Vepsäläinen, and Aino Koivisto
    2021 “Managing several simultaneous lines of talk in Finnish multi-party mobile messaging.” Discourse, Context & Media391, 100460. 10.1016/j.dcm.2020.100460
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2020.100460 [Google Scholar]
  64. Yus, Francisco
    2022Smartphone Communication: Interactions in the App Ecosystem. Abingdon: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/ip.00130.sam
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/ip.00130.sam
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error