TWITTER CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS: A RHETORICAL AND SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF AN EMERGING DIGITAL GENRE

Abstract

One of the main responsibilities of researchers is the circulation and dissemination of scientific knowledge. However, this task has evolved over time, and new forms of digital communication have emerged. This study  explores  the  science  communication  strategies  used  by researchers in an emerging digital genre, the Twitter conference presentation. A corpus of 55 presentations (300 tweets) was analysed under the theoretical and methodological lenses of genre analysis and semiotic resources analysis. Results showed that researchers relied on their previous rhetorical knowledge of other spoken research genres at the macro- structural level, while the micro-structural level encompassed a higher level of rhetorical dynamism. Concerning semiotic resources, embedding attachments in the form of images and hyperlinks was the preferred strategy by the authors. The most common interrelation functions between text and other semiotic resources were concurrence and complementarity. Consequently, the authors were able to reinforce the ideas mentioned in the text and offer additional information to further explore their research topics. This study’s findings contribute to the ongoing investigation of science communication with the description and analysis of emerging digital genres.