Multilingual Margins A journal of multilingualism from the periphery · 2015 · 179 citations · 11 references
Social Medium MonitoringMemeticsCommunicationSocial Media InteractionSocial NetworkLong TraditionJournalismComputational Social ScienceViral MarketingSocial MediaOnline CommunityNew Social StructuresManagementContent AnalysisSocial Network AnalysisSocial NetworksSocial InteractionSocial Network AggregationSocial WebSocial Media EnvironmentsInterpersonal CommunicationSocial ComputingInformation DiffusionArts
Phatic interactions, traditionally low in information, are surprisingly abundant on social media, where signs circulate without predetermined meaning. This paper investigates the rapid, widespread circulation of seemingly empty signs—virality—on social media. The authors analyze viral memes as illustrative cases to examine how such signs propagate and influence online engagement. Virality reframes the focus from meaning to effect, generating conviviality—a social‑structuring engagement within loose, temporal collectives on social media.
There is a long tradition in which 'phatic' forms of interaction are seen as (and characterized by) relatively low levels of 'information' and 'meaning'. Yet, observations on social media interaction patterns show an amazing density of such phatic interactions, in which signs are shared and circulated without an a priori determination of the meaning. We address the issue of 'virality' in this paper: the astonishing speed and scope with which often 'empty' (i.e. not a priori determined) signs circulate online. We address 'memes'-signs that have gone viral on the internet- as cases in point. Virality as a sociolinguistic phenomenon raises specific issues about signs, meanings, and functions, prompting a shift from 'meaning' to 'effect'. This effect, we can see, is conviviality: the production of a social-structuring level of engagement in loose, temporal, and elastic collectives operating in social media environments.
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