Polymedia repertoires of networked individuals

Abstract

This article introduces the concept of the polymedia repertoire to explore how social meaning is indexed through the interplay of communicative resources at different levels of expression (from choice of media to individual signs) in digitally mediated interactions. The multi-layered polymedia repertoire highlights how people move fluidly between media platforms, semiotic modes and linguistic resources in the course of their everyday interactions, and enables us to locate digital communications within individuals’ wider practices. The potential of our theoretical contribution is illustrated through analysis of mobile phone messaging between participants in a large multi-sited ethnography of the communicative practices of multilingual migrants working in linguistically diverse UK city neighbourhoods. Our analysis of mobile messaging exchanges in a day-in-the-life of these networked individuals reveals the importance of device attention in shaping interpersonal interactions, as well as the complex ways in which choices at different levels of a polymedia repertoire are structured by social relationships, communicative purpose and (dis)identification processes.

Why Is One Social Media Platform Not Enough? A Typology of Platform-Swinging Behavior and Associated Affordance Preferences

“…As Tagg and Lyons (2021) suggested, the core of polymedia theory is the recognition that media choices are inherently ideological and cultural. Our interviewees also expressed that their propensity for platform-swinging was heavily influenced by the perceived meanings and normative standards associated with each platform (Boczkowski et al, 2018).…”

‘One is allowed to show the reality’: The creation of panoptic structures in social media communication

“…When it comes to the online recycling of such 'evidence', social media users can choose where, how, and with whom they share it. This aspect of choice is accounted for by the concept of polymedia repertoires (Tagg & Lyons 2021), which describes how networked individuals (Papacharissi 2010) strategically choose between a variety of social media platforms depending on their communicative needs in specific situations. The theory hierarchically orders the relation between devices (mobile phones, PCs, etc.…”

“…To answer this, I first introduce my theoretical framework, which I have divided into three parts: the affordances of digital devices organized in polymedia repertoires (Tagg & Lyons 2021) providing for the choice of an audience, the metaphor of the Panopticon prison (Foucault 1977) and its relevance to studies of online interaction, and the movement (or entextualization) of bits of communication from one context to another (Bauman & Briggs 1990). To understand more about the role of panoptic practices in daily communication, I then turn to the case study.…”

Kas noored on inglise keelega 'obsessed'? Millest räägivad korpusandmed?

“…Tagliamonte ja Denis (2008) toovad välja, et kiirsuhtlusvestlustes kombineerivad noored formaalseid (nt kirjakeelseid vorme shall ja must) ja mitteformaalseid (nt emotikonid, lühendid) keeleelemente. Platvormide mitmekülgne funktsionaalsus võimaldab kasutajatel korraga tegutseda mitmes rakenduses ning sellest tulenevalt on nende eneseesitlus ja tähendusloome platvormiti erinev (Deakin, Wakefield 2014;Boczkowski et al 2018;Tagg, Lyons 2021). Uurimishuvi veebikeele (ja kitsamalt ka tšätikeele) vastu on jõudsalt kasvamas, eriti võib seda märgata (üli)õpilasuurimustes (ehk noored uurivad noori; vt ka 2).…”