The computer-mediated humor and small talk instances also activate various new dimensions to the reform of identity and the negotiation of power in the workplace. Results indicate that these discursive strategies contain many fundamental features of Netspeak (e.g., the use of emoticons, non-standardized punctuation) that differentiate themselves from the counterparts in face-to-face settings, and that these speech events co-occur with the utilization of the general and specific instant messenger interfaces.
Drawing upon Etienne Wenger's Communities of Practice framework (1998) and James Gee's model of discourse analysis (2011), the study analyzes the participants’ instant messaging chat logs supplemented with interview data, especially concentrating on how their humor and small talk took place functionally and creatively in such a computer-mediated work environment. This research hence aims to explore how the professionals in three Hong Kong white-collar organizations interact in Windows Live Messenger, Tencent QQ, and Facebook Chat for various transactional and relational purposes. However, the reality is that the use of digital devices, especially instant messengers, has become a trend in backstage communication in the workplace, including the small-sized enterprises in Sino-settings.
Studies of the former have tended to explore face-to-face workplace interaction in non-Asian settings, while studies of the latter have centered on interpersonal and public communication contexts. Workplace discourse analysis and computer-mediated discourse analysis have gathered momentum in the broad field of applied linguistics, but analysts have rarely empirically studied workplace discourse and computer-mediated communication simultaneously from a socio-constructionist perspective.
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