Internet Pragmatics - Volume 6, Issue 1, 2023

Abstract

Smartphone ads compete for the user’s attention, which is initially intended to focus on other areas of the small screen of the device. Despite this competition, smartphone advertisements aim to produce as much cognitive reward as possible in exchange for the mental effort expended in their processing, that is, they aim at the audience’s relevance, as claimed by relevance theory (Sperber and Wilson 1995), a theory in which cyberpragmatics (Yus 2011) is rooted. This paper addresses several key qualities of effective smartphone advertising from a cyberpragmatics perspective that focuses on possible sources of relevance of online communication, and now applied to smartphone ads. Furthermore, it is claimed that today’s smartphone-based advertising cannot be accounted for pragmatically without the incorporation of key terms such as contextual constraint and non-propositional effect, which add to more traditional pragmatic accounts of online communication (Yus 2017a, 2021a).

Abstract

This case study discusses audiences’ emotional reactions and convergent alignment in YouTube comment threads observed on four videos of Spanish YouTubers with affective narratives on sensitive topics. The analysis reveals that most single-comment threads are generally positive and that utterances are fairly equally divided in their focus on YouTubers or narratives. The act of taking a stance follow consists of a versatile process in which the convergent alignment or agreement with the YouTubers’ stance lead occurs not just by positively evaluating YouTubers or the story, but also by revealing something highly private concerning the stance topic. The four affective narratives evoke not only compliments, but also the convergent alignment the YouTubers presumably seek with their stories.

Abstract

This paper is an exploration of the variety of French-speaking cats on Twitter. Among the many creative phenomena that the internet has produced, animal-related language varieties, the language used by pets, have been explored as early as the 2000s, yet with a strong and almost exclusive focus on English. I first describe the shared repertoire of lexical, semantic, phonographic, and syntactic features used by French-speaking cats, and show how the simultaneous use of a childlike code and a formal register constructs the sociolinguistic persona of cats as ambivalent animals. I argue that the French variety has become “enregistered” (Squires 2010) insofar as it is perceived and ideologically constructed as a variety of its own while promoting a welcoming culture towards new members. In doing so, cats show that the belonging to a community of practice, notably by drawing on a common repertoire of resources, does not need to be linked with processes of exclusion.

Abstract

This paper examines the role of hashtags in the formation of affinity spaces linked to divergent linguistic cultures in the Canadian digital context. The linguistic cultures tend to accommodate certain language ideologies, which manifest through distinct forms of practical and discursive consciousness. The coexistence of divergent linguistic cultures that address shared topics in different ways is labelled “parallel digital monolingualism,” a form of multilingualism that has not been accounted for in previous research. This multilingualism exists because of the transfer of offline experiences (which, in Canada, are based on language and geography) into the affordances of digital contexts.

This article reviews Smartphone Communication: Interactions in the App Ecosystem978-1-032-06066-8978-1-003-20057-4

This article reviews The Discursive Construction of Identity and Space Among Mobile People978-1-3500-5350-2978-1-3500-5352-6

This article reviews Cognitive Pragmatics: Mindreading, Inferences, Consciousness978-1-5015-1612-2978-1-5015-0773-1