The article “Computer-mediated discourse analysis: an approach to researching online communities” (Herring, 2004), discusses the importance of computer-mediated discourse analysis (CMDA) for researching online communities. The author explains how CMDA can be used to analyze communication patterns in online communities and understand how people use language to interact in these digital contexts. The article highlights the benefits of CMDA for analyzing large datasets, identifying linguistic features, and detecting patterns of interaction, power dynamics, and identity construction. The author also discusses the challenges of conducting CMDA, such as dealing with issues of privacy and data management, and provides guidance on how to conduct CMDA research effectively. Overall, the article emphasizes the value of CMDA for studying online communities and understanding the role of language in shaping digital communication.
CMDA can also be used to evaluate new and innovative technology areas, such as virtual reality (VR). CMDA analysis can focus on the types of language used in the social virtual reality environment, and how an individual wants their identity to be perceived in that virtual world. The analysis can be further stretched to evaluate an individual’s interactions, communications, and persona within the real world as compared to their VR identity.
Resources:
Herring, S. C. (2004). Computer-mediated discourse analysis. Designing for Virtual Communities in the Service of Learning, 338–376. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511805080.016
