Serenity - Week 6 Reading Summary

A Semiotic Approach to Online Communities

Through the use of linguistic and semiotic methods, this article by Tardini and Cantoni discusses the semiotics underlying the communities of both websites and videogames. They divide these communities into two types: paradigmatic communities, where the users share similar interests, and syntagmatic communities, where the users form connections through social interactions. They also identify three main critical areas related to online communications, which are belonging, identity, and interest.

For websites, they argue that the community is created by the use of tools embedded within the webpage itself, such as a counter that lists how many other people are online at the same time, or a message that welcomes the user back every time they access the main page. They also conclude that the design of a website effects the type of community it fosters. For example, a webpage that seems closed off to newcomers and is restrictive in what can be altered will often have a more closely knit and homogenous community. For videogames, this creation is much more complex, and has much to do with the identities of the those who use it. Tardini and Cantoni claim that there are three types of identity: the real person, the virtual character, and the projective character, which is the bridge between the player and the character they present within the game.

As Second Life utilises both a 'video game style' of interface as well as a website based community, I felt that this article would be highly relevant. Unfortunately, there was no real depth of analysis, particularly in the area of semiotics, though the title claimed otherwise. Interestingly, the authors make the statement “Online identities have an ultimate linguistic nature...” (p. 374) with which I disagree. Even on forums, where communication between individuals is mostly undertaken through text, the use of avatars and signatures containing visual media give other users other queues from which to draw conclusions about the person to whom they are talking to.

Reference
Tardini, S., & Cantoni, L. (2005). A semiotic approach to online communities: Belonging, interest and identity in websites’ and videogames’ communities. In P. Isaı´as, P. Kommers, & M. McPherson (Eds.) Proceedings of the IADIS Social Semiotics 101 International Conference e-Society 2005 (pp. 371-37 8). Qwara, Malta: IADIS Press.