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Approaches to Internet Pragmatics: Theory and practice
Edited by Chaoqun Xie, Francisco Yus and Hartmut Haberland
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 318] 2021
► pp. 27–45

Chapter 1
Expanding pragmatics

Values, goals, ranking, and internet adaptability

 | University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
A pragmatic (rather than merely ‘extended’) perspective on internet user values regards both the value(s) of the interaction and those of its results. Firstly, a pragmatic evaluation presupposes that the interactants are agreed on what to evaluate and how, which implies the values being ordered in a ‘ranking’ according to importance. On the internet, such values depend on ‘likes’ or ‘hits’; the number of times a contribution has been accessed, even if negatively (in a so-called ‘shit storm’) makes it important. Secondly, being based on ranking, the evaluation is pragmatic: values are not a priori given, but emerge in interaction. Ranking presupposes the users’ accepting society’s values and collaborating in their creation; on the internet, this is done through ‘meaning making’ activities like ‘texting,’ ‘tweeting,’ or ‘instagramming.’ Current evaluation, in contrast to earlier, is ubiquitous, continuous, and accessible by i-Phone, i-Pad or other social-mediatic devices. Access and speed are important here; one cannot with impunity disregard a tweet, a writing on one’s Facebook, or an Instagram sent by one of one’s contacts.
Keywords: values in pragmatics, expanding pragmatics, extending pragmatics, evaluation, internet cline, ranking, interaction, ‘meaning-making’, social media, goals, adaptability
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Extending or expanding
  • 3.A man and his cat: Value and behavior
  • 4.Goals and values
  • 5.Values in society
  • 6.The ‘honor’ problem
  • 7.Truth and value in science
  • 8.The pragmatics of value
  • 9.Value-laden conflict: The participant observer
  • 10.‘Are they biting?’: Values and pragmemes
  • 11.User values in the cyber world
  • 12.Conclusion: Adaptability vs. adaptivity
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 21 April 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.318.01mey
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