Facebook can be considered a suitable example of a discourse community because this social media gathers millions of people throughout the world who share values, assumptions, and ways of communication. Its unique feature is that it unites people who are users of the same social media platform. Thus, the selected discourse community has a few peculiarities, including rules, specific language, types of interaction, and contribution to society.
Since Facebook is a legal body, it is not a surprise that it has specific rules that govern users’ behaviors. This statement refers to the fact that community members cannot distribute nudity, knowingly false statements, “all threats, and calls to violence” (Haselton par 5). With this, the community shares specific language, including ‘followers,’ ‘likes,’ and ‘posts’ (Kim and Vorobel 278). This information demonstrates that the community deals with pertinent phenomena. The terms also imply how members can interact with one another. For example, an individual can post something, while others can respond to it by leaving likes or writing a message. Now, this social media is widespread, denoting that the people outside the community are familiar with it, assuming that this community represents a vast part of society. Simultaneously, one cannot state that any specific music, food, or art is associated with the community because it grasps all the manifestations of pop culture. Thus, the community represents a significant part of society, allowing people to disclose information and share their opinions.
In conclusion, Facebook is an example of a discourse community since social media users have shared goals, means of communication, and lexical units. All the members abide by the same rules and distribute general cultural achievements. This information demonstrates that even those individuals who are not members of the given community are well familiar with its unique principles. It denotes that the Facebook discourse community is an integral part of modern society.
References
Haselton, Tom. “Here’s Facebook’s Once-Secret List of Content that Can Get You Banned.”CNBC, 2018. Web.
Kim, Deoksoon, and Oksana Vorobel. “Discourse Communities: From Origins to Social Media.” Discourse and Education. Encyclopedia of Language and Education, 3rd ed., edited by Stanton Wortham et al., Springer, 2017, pp. 267-281.