Discourse Communities
Discourse communities, everyone is in one whether we like it or not, it could be a group you enjoy (Sports Team), something you have as a hobby (Social Networks) or a community you were born into (Family). We’re all in one. But that doesn’t mean we communicate, interact, behave or have the same goals for all of them. That’s what makes all discourse communities different.
Tweet Tweet! You may think this is a bird chirping, but that is no longer the only meaning, it’s a social network site called Twitter and I’m part of this discourse community. At first it used to be a hobby but then it became addicting, and yes, even more addicting than Facebook, because it’s always updating every minute on what you follow. An example could be me, since I love sports and always like to be updated on what’s happening around it, I follow a lot of ESPN accounts. And since you can get anybody’s tweets on your phone, you’re always updated on what’s going on, and that’s one of my goals on twitter, staying updated. Another goal I have is tweeting my opinions about what’s going on in games that I’m watching or what’s happening around sports. I think this is the biggest reason people use twitter, not to say what they’re doing but to opinionate on what is happening. It gives me a peace of mind since I no longer have to keep all my thoughts in my head. I get to release them out for everybody to see. My audiences are the people who follow me, since I tweet mostly about the Cowboys, Mavericks and Yankees, most of my followers are those types of fans. Twitter helps you communicate with other people who share the same interest as you. A way you communicate is tweeting, sending @ replies by putting people’s twitter name or direct messaging them, which only they can see. The tricky part is writing it in under 140 characters. Basically you have to get to the point. And that’s what people want these days, get straight to the point. These genres help us communicate with one another and are a goal. Specialized vocabulary includes “hash tags” which form a meaning or saying. An example could be #HurricaneIreneShouldHaveTaken… then you fill in the rest. It’s a good way to laugh or to expand your creativity. “Trending topics” tell you what almost everyone is talking about in the world, country or in your region. And “twitpics” are pictures you send to Twitter. These are all examples of specialized vocabulary only found through the discourse community called Twitter.
The National Football League is already the most popular sport in the United States. So in order to get the fans more involved than just watching the game, Wilfred Winkenbach created Fantasy Football. It’s very easy to be a part of it, all you need is to go online create an ESPN account and join a league. It’s that simple. You don’t need any football knowledge and it’s absolutely free, but if you’re a competitive person and money is on the line then you will need some football knowledge in order to win, and that’s one of the goals for Fantasy Football, learning more about the game and players and also winning. Now a real NFL fan doesn’t just want to watch their favorite team play, they want to keep in touch with all the teams, and fantasy football helps with that. You draft all sorts of players from all these different teams and throughout the season you keep in touch with how they’re doing, stats wise. Therefore gets you more involved around the league. It also gives fans a game of their own to play. The genres of Fantasy Football comprise of trading players to other teams which involves negotiating, chat boxes while you’re drafting players so you get to know the other people who are playing in your league and matchups is where you get to see who you’ll be facing the upcoming week and you get to see what players they have and sometimes you talk a little smack to your opponent. The specialized vocabulary words would be “Draft” a lot of people would think you’re talking about the military draft but in fantasy terms it’s when you draft football players onto your team. “Free agency” is the place where all the players that didn’t get drafted go to so if someone you did draft gets injured you can replace him with a free agent player. Lastly “waivers” are the order number your team is in when you want to get a player in free agency. Let’s say you and another person are going after the same free agent, the person with the lower waiver number gets the free agent. Just to show how popular fantasy football is, over 19 million people play every year.
What better way to have fun than to play video games, but instead of just with your friends or by yourself how about playing with anybody in the whole world? That’s what playing XBOX Live does, you get to play with anybody who has the same game as you and it doesn’t matter where that other person is. The goals for playing online is that you have so much fun playing that you lose track of time and most of the time you never step outside for fresh air. Additional goals are beating the game you have with other people and not just with the computer because let’s face it it’s boring playing with the computer. And don’t you hate it how if you’re really good at a game you just keep beating your friends at it and you just get bored with it because you have no competition? Well in XBOX Live there’s always someone who is better than you. So finding competition shouldn’t be a problem. One the ways we communicate online is through a headset, where it’s like talking on the phone except having up to 8 people on the line. Another way is by sending a text message to a person’s profile or you can leave a voicemail. Most people online do talk trash because it’s not face to face, but there is an option to “block”, or remove whoever you want so you won’t have to deal with those types of people. “Inviting” means what its saying; you invite a person either to a game or party. A “party” is where all the people that you want to talk to through a headset are. To join this discourse community you’ll need an XBOX 360 and Internet.
“Screens”, “free throws” and “isolations,” these are terms used in the game of basketball. That doesn’t mean you have to say it in order for someone to get what you’re saying. Teams use hand signals, ball movement and basic instinct to execute plays and make shots. Those are also the goals for basketball. Teams need these types of genres because of two reasons; if the crowd/audience is loud and you need to call a play, you’re not going to be able to yell and hope all your teammates hear what play you called. Another reason is the opponent will already know what play your calling if you say it, that’s why hand signals or ball movement work because the opponent won’t know what play you are calling if you keep mixing it up. The only writing in this community is when the coach draws up a play, makes a game plan or keeps stats. Most people won’t make it to the NBA, but people still have a goal on improving their game.
In conclusion most of my discourse communities involve being online. That’s how we all communicate fast, with just with a push of a button. The members of your discourse community don’t have to live where you live because of the Internet. And like I said earlier you meet people who share the same interest as you and that’s what my discourse communities are all about.
