Communication styles in Instant Messenger use

Abstract

With the increased importance of the Internet in recent years as a site for communication, increased academic study of the medium is necessary to understand its significance in human communication. This study aims to understand how styles are developed in online communication between members of specific communities, known as fandoms, and how rules of English are bent in the face of new options for communication. The history of communication over the medium is addressed as well as the new and developing technologies in the field today. There is specific focus placed on the difference between local and global Internet communication and how global communities create the need for more specialized techniques of communication.