alex's paper

8/2/2019 Alex's Paper

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The Importance of Digital Discourse Communities

Although it might seem hard to envision it, there once was a world without Twitter. Is

twitter the best example.. maybe say cell phones or if you use twitter say something about status

update.Without Twitter, people would have to grab their house phone, dial a 7 digit number, and

wait for their friend to answer. Strenuous as it may sound, its completely true. Communication

on the social level has climbed drastically every year with each new social media on the beast

that we call the internet. Now, in a world where sending an email can be done on a phone in 5

seconds, the information you share can be done on endless amounts of planes. You can Tweet,

update your status, blog about your day, all on a computer in your family room. Or on your

phone! Internet on phoneThis concept of people communicating with each other over a certain

medium (i.e. internet) is called discourse communities.

Online communities, needless to say, have been greatly changed by the internets

appearance in society. Any message that you want to get across to another person can be

delivered in seconds now, whereas phone calls could take a few minutes, and letters could take

days. There are those who would consider todays society as one with too much information

being thrown around, whereas others could say the internet has broadened the horizon on which

one person can communicate with another. Digital discourse communities in this day and age

have added many unique and positive ways in which we communicate with each other, despite

being somewhat dangerous in terms of personal information. ( good info )

First, lets define what a discourse community is. In John Swales article The

Concept of Discourse Community he explains 6 basic rules to has/does. The best one that can

explain what a discourse community is rule # 1: Each discourse community has a set of goals

that it offers the public (471).For example, Facebooks goal is to help you share information

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between two or more people. Ebay uses its system to try and find and auction things off to

people in a specific community. So where the internet has sites and systems of communication,

you participate in the discourse community of your choice on any site.

The general consensus has been that the internet has turned the world upside-down. With

such a flow of information at peoples fingertips Dennis Baron writes in his article From Pencils

to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies, apparently the success of the next

communication innovation depends on the accessibility, function, and authentication,

good (424). This is the formula for how new discourse communities are formed, like

Twitter, Wikipedia, or Facebook. Facebook and Twitter go through multiple updates a month,

making it easier and easier to access new information and communicate. Wikipedia offers a

specific place to search for things and share with one another, a revolutionary site that made the

search for what you need easy.

As these internet applications have become popular among users, more information

beginsan to pour through the internet waves. To some, this might be a bad thing. For cyber-

bullies, this is another vessel to hassle regular people via an anonymous I.P. address. Some

parents, concerned citizens, and teachers have come out against the internetInternet because of

instances of abuse or private information being shown to strangers, which is a real problem

today. More and more internet virus have sprung up, with identity theft being the viral disease.

This makes people wonder if indeed the internet is the right place to have a discourse

community. This is a good point.. idk if this flows in well from the last. I had no idea this was

coming. Idk. Just my view.

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As a defender of the internet use, I would be remiss if I didnt mention that there are

plenty of security applications you can purchase, and these work to hold your information

private. The concept is best thought of as putting a helmet on before you ride a bike. If you want

to go on the internet (bike), you had better turn on your computer safety settings (helmet). A few

more good tips include signing out of any site that you belong as a member to. This includes

banks, any instant messenger, and your email. Keeping your information is as easy as you make

it. Another good idea is to make complicated passwords, so that your information cant be easily

hacked. Instead of a password like alligator3, something like s5trgh89 would be much

tougher to crack for any hacker. good

A different argument that has been brought up is that its difficult to have a voice and

authority on a discourse community, since there are so many people in on the

conversation. However, to authors Ann M. Penrose and Cheryl Geisler, its as simple as

believing that is is ok if you dont know everything? Wording..its okay to not know everything.

In their articleReading and Writing without Authority: they state,we need to understand the

development of knowledge as a communal and continual process, (613). This makes sense,

because a learning community is exactly that; community rooted in learning. Students who dont

know history sit in the history classroom, and the teacher informs you on what you may not

know. Maybe elaborate on this point a little more.

So although a person may go into a website about Star Trek and write a post about

something theyve been curious about, someone with authority in the group can inform that

individual. one person. Theres no need for any intellectual battle, putting pride behind you and

asking/ learning is something that all discourse communities do. Confusing sentenceAs people

gain knowledge, its easy to believe the questionsthey have will grow as well. The internets



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many resources offer a wealth of knowledge to those who embrace, not ignore, their intellectual

growth.

So with all this educational growth, is it so bad to see discourse communities to take over

the internet? Well that all depends on how and what you learn? Maybe use a different wordlearn.

Many activists are against the internet being used to spread knowledge, because it might lead to

cheating. Sites like Sparknotes, who offer short synopses and plot overviews of all their books,

have made classroom cheating easy. Many teachers have complained, saying that a student might

spend 5-10 minutes looking at a webpage instead of spending 2-3 hours reading a book. You

could say that it is also used so that they can grasp a better understanding as a guide while they

are reading a better book and that it answers their questions since the teacher isnt available 24 7.

However, an alternative puts the internet at significant importance with a classroom. Like

the phrase says, If you cant beat em, join em, teachers are using more online and modern

ways to help students learn. Instead of talking directly to the students, new programs run images

and information through interactive gameplay or attentive study. Because the internet and

computers are so big now, education takes the role of the teacher and the guide, helping the

student learn through guided study. Looking into the future, education through internet and

computer exposure could prove to be life-changing. Good point. Maybe give a specific example

of the guided study

Discussion of point) In a short film entitled Us Now, light is shed on just how impactful

online communities are. On sites like YouTube, you can post a How-to video on something you

might have to really, really search hard for in a book or manual. If you missed the Presidential

Debate, you could just watch it on YouTube, or go on the affiliated site and post about it. For one



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person to communicate to several others at the same time is groundbreaking, on the level of

discourse communities at least. You might use a weblog to keep track of what youve been doing

with your life, and others can read your story. The only thing holding mankind back now is itself.

Limitations are whatever people decide they are, as long as there are communities in which

someone can belong to.

(Discussion of point)Weblogs, sometimes called blogging, are great examples of internet

independency in discourse communities. In his article Geography of the Blogosphere:

Representing the Culture, Ecology, and of Weblogs, Nicholas Packwood talks about the different

ways weblogs function: Channeling exchanges between and among blogs takes the form of a

variety of energy flows. The blogosphere can be thought of as a market that is made up not only

of links but other forms of relationship and reciprocity. These multiple, overlapping and

interconnected forms of exchange may be articulated using an ecological model. This has been

suggested to be discourse evolution. Society has chosen its preferred method of discourse, and

its it is online.

So online isnt bad, it helps people to learn, its efficient; so what does that mean about

physical contact? Nicole Browns article entitled The Regionalization of Cyberspace: Making

visible the Spatial Discourse of Community Online, there is extensive coverage of evidence that

points toward language and space. For example, she writes At times, rows of desks may be

[re]arranged into circles, encouraging and making visible the value that we place on peer

discussion and the social construction of knowledge. This puts a special value on how we value

other peoples opinions, and the concept of learning itself. In essence, how we learn is as

important as what we learn. She goes further on, saying that Now, with millions of people

corresponding online, traditional conceptions of how people meet, speak, and interact are being




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rethought. So because of the new technologies and ways we meet have been expanded, the

ways in which people act are being rethought. So that means that physical contact isnt

necessarily mandatory for online discourse communities.

Dan Brown, a professional video blogger/youtuber, tells his story through a speech he

gave at VidCon, the largest convention for the video discourse community. He argues the huge

implications the internet has on almost every kind of discourse community saying; As a result

of the internet, more people, from more places, are connected to, and interacting with, more other

people, from more other places, than ever before in all of human history. Since discourses made

their way online, Mr. Brown has been utilizing the information gained and exchanged to increase

his knowledge. Again the concept of gaining knowledge because of the amount of

people/discussion that the internet gives to people. However, can this remain a positive thing in

the future? Good argument and good question

If things go unchanged, and more and more people seek to use online discourse

communities, it could happen that newspapers go entirely extinct, with new weblogs and online

investigations being put on news sites. This isnt necessarily a bad thing, but this could put more

than a few people out of jobs, which is a growing problem in itself. With more and more up-to-

the-second updates happening, a flood of information keeps each person in the know quicker,

and could help to educate people on a whole new pace. This is cool especially if you could find

some stats to re-emphasize.

It is not necessarily staring at a computer screen, its more of interacting with those who

are knowledgeable and want to teach. What is it? Instead of flying to Brazil to learn about their

culture, a simple Skype invite can unite two people wishing to exchange their lifes information.


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Asking questions and becoming involved are teachings that the like of Plato enforced. So if our

communities keep on being put in use, then no one but ourselves can limit what we can teach our

children with the technology we have now.

By Branching out to politics in discourse communities, the future might hold some very

different characters. By Those logging into YouTube can watch political ads, comment below

and read what others have said others on what they have to say about the politician. People

might be able to vote online in the future, watching and reading articles posted by bloggers and

people following the debates, and the next President could be chosen online! This makes more

sense because the rate of exchange between people online and people offline are very different.

Much more information can be shared online rather than in person or over the phone.

As the internet has become the leading source in news coverage and social-media sites, it

has also become the scapegoat for the BAD kind of discourse communities: illegal activity

communities. Examples of these include people who illegally download music, spam or sell

illegal things via internet messaging, etc. In fact, recently a bill called SOPA was introduced to

stop some of those activities. It would edit the internet so that it would be more controlled.

However, as discourse communities learned about this online battle, an overwhelming amount of

people showed that they DID NOT want the bill to pass. As public hatred towards this bill

became obvious, it was subsequently dropped. This is the perfect example of how good discourse

communities function. If it werent for all of the online communities sharing their thoughts to

others, this achievement wouldnt have been made. Maybe explain why people didnt want the

bill to pass and what people didnt want it to


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This doesnt excuse those pirates who illegally bootleg different online material. In the

future, the government has repeatedly stated that further measures are going to be made in the

future to help stop those people taking advantage of others. And it makes sense as well, because

most musical releases are done digitally now, preventing in-store theft. Movies are also being

released digitally, although the business isnt as profitable as music, or music videos. Today, the

problem of online theft and music theft is still a huge problem, and law-makerslawmakers are

fighting to stop it.

So all throughout the evolution of discourse communities, from bars and cafs to the

internet and cyberspace, our society has gone viral. One last question remains to be reflected

upon: How much information is too much information? Some people feel that people today are

looking for too much information, and dropping their focus from reality itself. More people seem

to engage in online chat rooms and Tweeting than actually living their day. Is it wasteful to

spend time on a discourse community, rather than taking a walk, enjoying nature and such? Well

that all depends on your lifes goal. Or what is important to you.

The sharing of information isnt a bad thing, as long as you appreciate life and you

achieve enjoyment of life as you learn new things. This may be too strong of an

opinion/statement?Experiencing different peoples lives by talking with them actually serves as

a cultural education, interacting with others on a personal level. Future generations can take

advantage of what society has learned and can talk to people from China, who can teach them

about the origin of paper. Whatever the case may be to edit social discourse through the

internet, it should be harnessed to help teach different cultures. As long as the person is

adventurous, it cant be too harmful to belong on to multiple online discourse communities.

What do you mean by saying as long as the person is adventurous? You may want a second


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opinion on this paragraph your view of life or how life is enjoyed may be different than your

readers.. idk if im reading this correctly?

Between the education, political, social, and moral issues of online discourse

communities, it might seem hard to get a grip on what a society like todaystodays society should

do with them. Technology such as todaystodays technology has only just been discovered, and it

takes years to truly examine the impact it has had on a global community. However, with careful

application of certain principles, and the well-designed fixes of todays problems, online

discourse communities have the potential to change the human race for the better.

I think that your paper worked well. I think that maybe you could make headings introducing

your next topic. You tended to flow through topics and ideas really fast, addressing many

different views. Maybe you would want to elaborate a bit more, giving more detail in each

example. I feel like you have given good arguments but I couldnt seem to find your MAIN point

or argument or gap. I see that you discussed it throughout the paper but I couldnt find a

particular sentence where I felt your gap was clearly stated.


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Work Cited

Baron, Dennis, From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies. Passions, Pedagies, and

21st

Century Technologies. Ed. Gail Hawisher and Cynthis Selfe. Loagan: Utah State UP, 1999.

15-33. Print

Brown, Dan. Dan Brown and His #secretproject at VidCon 2010. Perf. Dan Brown. Revision3, 2010.

Youtube Video.

Brown, Nicole. "The Regionalization of Cyberspace: Making Visible the Spatial Discourse of

Community Online." Web log post. Composition Forum. Apr.-May 2006. Web. 2 Mar. 2012.

Kaltenbach, Susan. The Evolution of the Online Discourse Community. Dec. 2000.

Article.

Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Genre Analysis: English in Academic

And Research Setting. Boston: Caimbridge UP, 1990. 21-32. Print.

Packwood, Nicholas. "Geography of the Blogosphere: Representing the Culture, Ecology and Community

of Weblogs." Weblog post.Http://blog.lib.umn.edu. Wilfrid Laurier University. Web. 2 Mar.

2012.

Penrose, Ann M., and Cheryl Geisler. Reading and writing without Authority. College

Composition and Communication 45.4 (1994): 505-20. Print.

Us Now: What Society Gains from Online Collaboration . Dir. Ivo Gormley. Prod. Hugh Hartford. Banyak

Films, 2008. DVD.

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