麻豆影院

Digital platforms have turned stance into a polarizing practice that goes beyond normal stancetaking.

By: Will Culkin
Course: Language and Digital Media (Ling 3800-800)
Advisor: Prof Kira Hall
LURA 2020

Sociolinguists use the term 鈥渟tancetaking鈥� when describing how speakers evaluate objects intellectually and aesthetically. One of the leading linguists in this area, John W. Du Bois (2007), has proposed that each instance of stancetaking involves a 鈥渟tance triangle鈥� in which two speakers create intersubjectivity through their evaluation of an object. As seen in the figure below, taken from Du Bois鈥檚 influential article, Subject 1 evaluates an Object and thereby positions themselves as taking a particular kind of stance. Subject 2 then aligns to that positioning by also evaluating the Object, positioning themselves towards the Object in relation to Subject 1鈥檚 positioning. However, Du Bois鈥檚 stance triangle was originally formulated for in-person, small-scale, single interactions. As digital factors change the interactional landscape, there is a need to reevaluate the stance triangle to account for digital communication. This was the topic of my investigation for the course Language and Digital Media.

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As a case study, I worked with Facebook鈥檚 recommendation system - identified as the 鈥渃ontroller鈥� - to determine if it intensified stancetaking by creating a snowball effect to control the object being evaluated.听 I argue that the effects of the recommendation system and its publicity of other people鈥檚 stances create a new type of stancetaking:听superstance. To test my superstance hypothesis, I applied the theory to Facebook, allowing account holders to be users (or 鈥渟ubjects,鈥� in Du Bois鈥檚 terms), content to be objects, and the algorithm to act as the controller. In my small-scale experiment, I created a new Facebook account in which I took stances on particular kinds of content by liking certain items and following certain accounts. I quickly saw the controller in action. The algorithm evaluated my actions and then positioned itself towards me by controlling what types of objects (news events covered by a conservative commentator, in this case) populated my feed. In other words, each mini-stance taken by the user toward social media content gets recorded by the controller. This lets the controller then show objects that it has decided a user will like, in order to encourage the user to spend more time on the site. However, this phenomenon creates an adverse effect as it pulls users farther apart, confirms biases, and doesn鈥檛 allow other voices to be heard. By compounding upon the user鈥檚 initial stance, the algorithm proliferates the occurrence of ministances and creates a loop of stancetaking which echoes and enhances upon itself. This echo chamber is the basis of the superstance.听

After establishing the existence of the algorithm鈥檚 superstance, I focused on the specific mechanisms at play. The narrow and simplistic design of digital media 鈥渞eactions鈥� are the essence of stancetaking in the modern age. The sheer access of objects and users is magnified to a global stage, and social norms are inhibited by disassociation from the interaction altogether. Furthermore, social media has created a new standard of communication so that prespecified reactions are simple and encouraged. In this way, digital media has predetermined a small repertoire of reactions for users to then select between. This further accelerates the speed of stancetaking as a simple click that 鈥渓ikes,鈥� 鈥渄islikes,鈥� 鈥渉earts,鈥� or 鈥渃ries鈥� over an object, limiting the majority of stances to this specific menu. This systematic online stancetaking is a highly strategic and intentional element of digital media.听 Each stance that is taken on social media sites like Facebook enables the site to position themselves towards the user in a manner they hope will get the user to engage more with the platform. The bottom-line goal of these sites is to draw users in, and user engagement is a pinnacle metric of success in the industry. While the foundational thinking in creating social media may not have been to support this superstance vortex, it is undoubtedly an effect.听

The polarization created by superstances, known to users as groups or curated feeds, would never have reached the divisive level that characterizes today鈥檚 climate if not for the algorithm acting as the controller. The mini-stances that one might recognize from Du Bois鈥檚 original stance triangle are empowered and augmented; in doing so, social dissent, division, and disorder is exacerbated as well.听

Bibliography:
Du Bois, John W. 鈥淭he Stance Triangle.鈥澨�Stancetaking in Discourse, 2007, pp. 139鈥�182., doi:10.1075/pbns.164.07du.听
Thurlow, Crispin, and Kristine R. Mroczek.听Digital Discourse Language in the New Media. Oxford University Press, 2011.听