Innovations and Challenges in Social Media Discourse Analysis

In recent times, we have all become hyper-aware of the presence and influence of social media in our lives, and it has provided substantial data for analysis by scholars across almost all academic disciplines. Applied linguistics is no different, with researchers showing an ongoing fascination with people's everyday communication and discourse as it plays out online.

While social media discourse has undoubtedly allowed us to observe aspects of social life as they unfold in real time across various platforms and utilising different affordances, there have also been – and continue to be – challenges.

Specifically, this challenge revolves around developing an understanding of how language and other semiotic resources act as tools to help us organise, commune around and contest the different social bonds that connect and divide us. Applied linguists and discourse analysts continue to grapple with this and other issues in comprehending what is actually going on when people engage in social media communication.

In this presentation, Dr Andrew Ross will outline the rationale and focus of his new book – co-authored with Michel Zappavigna – focusing precisely on this topic. The title of the book is Innovations and Challenges in Social Media Discourse Analysis, from a wider series on Innovations and Challenges in Applied Linguistics.

Although it is beyond the scope of the talk to cover the entire book, Andrew will seek to provide insights into some of its key theoretical and topical content.

Date

Thursday 4 April 2025

Time

1 to 2 pm

Location

Online via Zoom

Speaker

Dr Andrew Ross
University of Canberra