Sarah
Brittain
The Science of Visual Communication
Intro to “Discourse Community”
There
are many ways to communicate, and communication, along with technology,
continues to change and expand in ways that are hard to imagine. New ways of
communicating are always coming out and it’s often hard to keep up. In his book
Genre Analysis, English in academic and
research setting, John Swales discuses many topics in literature and
communication. One aspect he touches on is the discourse community. This is a kind
of group that can be many things, but one thing it is not is simple. There is a
vast array of aspects that qualify a certain group as a discourse community;
swales describes his personal definition of a discourse community which is a
group which shares similar terms, values and also that share means of
communication.
In
this new day and age where people are increasingly becoming more reliant on
visual based things the communication has changed drastically, it’s important
to keep up to date on the ways of communicating in those visual settings.
Pictures have always been a great way to communicate, as it’s often said a
picture is worth a thousand words. With so much riding on that, in a way pictures
are more important for communicating than even speaking a language because the
message is all based on personal interpretation. In the community of Instagram,
which is an app based around socializing through images, communication is
centralized around images and symbols. An image posted from every person will
appear on a central feed, the user can also have their own profile where they
display pictures they have taken. These pictures range from friends, to family,
dogs, to nature. Instagram is a worldwide community with numbers reaching the
millions and yet every member can be in touch with the press of a few buttons.
The
sub community, the Royal Snapping Artists
is a group of photographers who gather to not only better themselves and gain
acceptance and fame but to spread the love of nature and photography far and
wide. The Royal Snapping Artists gets
its name from a concept of snapping a picture and being an artist. The group is
often referred to in its abbreviated acronym, “RSA”. The Royal Snapping
Artists is a sub community of this large photography community Instagram,
is has thousands of members from around the world. According to Daniel Richter
a member of the group for a year, the RSA
“is a close community, which supports and promotes its members”. I too have
been a member of this group for a year and find it fits the description of a
discourse community perfectly. The RSA
has its own unique set of terminology, goals, and has established many ways of
communicating.
Methods
In
this essay I will be analyzing a “sub community”, which is a community within
the larger community of Instagram. I will be showing it as a complex discourse
community with its own unique set of terminology, goals and ways of communicating;
giving feedback is also a part of the communicating process. To conduct
research, apart from being a member of the group (and therefore being privy to
knowledge someone outside the group may not have) I interviewed another member
of the group Mr. Daniel Richter. I chatted with Richter online about the
community and instagram as a whole playing the part of a discourse community. I
then took from that interview the ways that this group fits the description of
a discourse community, as well as the ways in which people of the RSA community
communicate.
Establishing
the Lexis
Many
writing pieces have their own way of speaking, jargon that is particularly
accepted within that genre of literature, lexis is one of those terms used when
discussing discourse communities, strangely enough it is a term coined to describe
terms. As stated by Swales lexis is terminology which is unique to the group. It’s
important to first discuss the lexis of this group because without knowing the terminology
of the community there’s no way to understand how we communicate. In the group
of Instagram there are many different terms, but the most important one is the “feed”
this is the “main page” of the instagram app, its where all the pictures can be
seen. The images show up in one long bar running up and down. In order to view
pictures you just scroll down, the most recent pictures posted will be at the
top and they are always dated to the second.
Another
very important term is hash tag, a hash tag is a very complicated term which
can be symbolized with a pound sign (#). It is a way of categorizing, as
described by Richter, “I like to use the hash tag railfan so I can find other people who enjoy rail lines and they
can also find me” using this hash tag symbol before a phrase or word creates a hash
tag and puts the picture into that group. It’s also, as shown by Richter, a way
for people to stay connected. All through instagram these different hash tags
are used from #cute, #nature or #fun to more complex has tags like #whatiateforbreakfast.
In
the RSA we have many unique tags(shortened
term for hashtag) that all begin with #RSA_ . As stated previously R.S.A. is an
acronym which stands for Royal Snapping
Artists the name of the sub community. For instance just recently we had a
challenge which was called #RSA_livestock everyone posted different pictures of
livestock and the best pictures were able to be “featured” on the site. When you
use these hash tags you are able to be “featured” which would allow you to be
posted on the main page that thousands of RSA members see hourly, these tags
and features get you “likes” and “follows”.
Another
important term is following which is done by followers. These are people who
“follow” you which means your pictures show up in their feed. For instance I
follow “taureen_chris” a friend from Easton who is a member of the RSA. Her pictures
show up in my feed, I also follow RSA so when they feature a member that
picture shows up in my feed along with that person’s name.
Within
the community of RSA we also have various challenges. These according to
Richter are ways to gain followers likes and features. All you have to do is
hash tag your picture for the themed contest. These challenges take place daily
and are one of the many perks to being a part of the community.
Community
Goals
My
Own personal goals when joining RSA was to promote my own photos, but I also
enjoy seeing the beauty of other places that I might not get to visit myself.
We have a variety of members from around the world to represent their own area,
I along with a couple other people represent New Jersey. When Richter
originally joined this community he says it was to become a better
photographer, then once he had accomplished an experienced level of picture
taking he now promotes himself more. The group itself has thousands of members
and every week they feature a new member, someone who takes great pictures of
rural landscapes. We also have contests and challenges where everyone takes
pictures of similar things like the “windmill challenge” and then the best
picture is featured. As stated in the lexis section challenges and features are
ways to gain acceptance and fame among the RSA members because it allows a lot
of other people to see your picture and view your profile.
Originally
my goal wasn’t to promote myself or even gain followers it was just about
seeing the world and seeing other pictures. But now it has become so much more
than that. Even Richter discussed how RSA has opened his eyes to a hidden
talent, taking pictures, not many people can line up an single just right or
capture a scene so magnificently. The other members of RSA are so supportive
and helpful that it’s hard not to think about trying to do this as a career. Of
course no one gets paid in the RSA but in the instagram community there is definitely
money to be made. According to Richter just being able to get professional opinions
and be accepted is enough reason to post pictures daily and continue supporting
his other members, who always return the love.
Ways of Communication
There
are many ways to communicate within the app instagram and we use all of these
mechanisms in the royal snapping family. One simple way of communicating is in
the caption that you post with your picture, the caption appears under the
picture. This is a way to communicate something to the people who follow you or
to whatever hashtag you decide to put on the picture. It will appear under the
picture in any feed, and can be viewed by anyone who can see the picture. the
caption gives information to the audience or followers of the particular person
posting it, there are many things that can go in the caption like the hashtags
or quotes some people put entire stories of the photo and background information
which is very nice when viewing the photo to know under what circumstances it
was taken. The caption is very important because it is always at the top of the
comment box and therefore will remain visible even if there are hundreds of
comments.
Commenting is also a form of communication, commenting can be
done under the caption of any picture. usually people will comment commending
words on a shot they enjoyed, they’ll point out what they enjoy for instance if
they like the particular subject matter or the angle its shot in. commenting is
also a way to give and receive feedback, the comments people leave are a way to
see how people are responding to your photo. People can post comments on a
picture about why they liked it or what the person is doing right, the members
of RSA use these comments to support,
always support never ridicule or say anything negative.
Liking is also a way of communicating. It’s a way of showing how
many people enjoy yuour photo. Liking is a way of liking a photo you literally
click the like button and your name is added to a list of people who liked the
picture. this list is viewable by anyone. Its aa way of reciveing feedback as
well, according to richter because you can see how many people like your picture
as well as what kinds ofpicture they take, if theyre more professional than
you.
According to richter another way of communicating as well as
giving feedback is following. If you follow someone you automatically let them
know you like the pictures they take. Usually the person returns the follow or
a few "likes". When someone has been followed all of their pictures
show up in the main feed, along with many others depending on how many people a
particular person is following. For instance I follow close to 1000 people, my
feed refreshes every couple second with new images from around the world. There
are many ways to give and recieve feedback on instagram these are commenting,
liking, and following. commenting as explained above, can be done by anyone on
instagram not just followers.
Swales
discusses another important aspect of communicating in a discourse community
which is genres. “Genre” is fancy
literate jargon for a “text that helps facilitate communication between people”
(Wardle 559).
These also include ways of communicating which further the aims of the
community. Instagram has many different genres. For instance there are many
magazines that started on instagram which now fuel the desire to take photos
and learn how to become a professional. One magazine is called Shooter I personally watched this
instagram group emerge and become a published magazine, no longer bound to the
internet but able to be seen by many other people. It includes photos and tips
as well as many full length articles from professionals. These types of genres
help facilitate our goal of creating beauty in photographs everywhere.
Conclusion
The
community of Royal Snapping Artists can
be distinguished as a discourse community because it fits the definition of one
provided by literary expert Swales. RSA has a wide range of terminology, also
known as lexis. This helps establish it as its own unique group. The group also
has its own set of goals which range from becoming a better photographer to
promoting pictures and gaining recognition in the professional world. The RSA
also has many communicating mechanisms as well these mechanisms further the
aims of the community as well as allow members to give and receive feedback
through a series of liking, following, or commenting. You can communicate a lot
through a picture, but the age old saying of “a picture is worth a thousand
words” remains a motto with a thousand meanings. Pictures can communicate in
many different ways, and in the 21st century where people want
instant gratification and everyone is a visual learner it’s important to be
able to express and communicate through images. Instagram has changed my life, it’s
drastic but true. If everyone could pick
up a camera, and start to appreciate the beauty around them the world would be
a better place.
Works
Cited
·
Wardle,
Elizabeth, and Doug Downs. Writing about Writing: A College Reader.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011.
·
"First
Interview with Daniel Richter." Chat interview. 15 April. 2013.
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