The Discourse Machine

Every community you consider stepping into has a bevy of contexts and concerns. What's worse, these may be entirely unique compared to other communities. How is any newcomer supposed to know about that inside joke from three years ago? Is it plausible to ask someone who has just downloaded to TikTok, and is perhaps establishing themselves on social media for the first time, to understand the Harlem Shake?

No, not really. But there are familiar patterns across all communities. Specifically the use of the discourse community, Seeley notes, alongside these patterns can assist in connection between the old and the new folk. However, it's not as simple as text on a page might make it seem. When we talk about discourse communities, it is only natural we want to consider the criteria the defines them. Yet, It's not entirely cut and dry.

TikTok is the example I used earlier, and it's the main point of reference in "Read the Room!". The argument is also made that it isn't a discourse community, but rather a sort of overseer or umbrella, under which various discourse communities may fall. I agree with this interpretation. I do not agree, at least entirely, with the thought that TikTok isn't a discourse community itself. At the very least, it is the close cousin of such a concept. 

Let's have some examples. There is an established "TikTok community". This much is undeniable, but there is separation between those who consume and those who create TikToks. Obviously, there is significant overlap as well. Does this generality and melding disqualify TikTok from such a label?

I actually disagree with Seeley, in part. TikTok does have a "broadly agreed upon set of goals". It is the creation or consumption of content, in video format. Everyone who has ever downloaded TikTok has done so with the intention of creating or watching video content. This is a general goal, if not a very inspiring one. 

When you use the word "broadly" in your criteria, you must accept the full definition. It's doing a lot of work here. Because of it, it's difficult to hard define a community as, "This is this thing, no exceptions". Similarly, and perhaps this is just semantics, I find it hard to deny TikTok the label of "discourse community" when it is the single greatest creator/instigator of digital discourse at this point in time. 

It is a veritable discourse machine, you might say.

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Seeley, S., Xu, K., & Chen, M. Read the Room! Navigating Social Contexts and Written Texts. https://writingspaces.org/read-the-room-navigating-social-contexts-and-written-texts/