Caja Thimm

The Portrayal of Older Adults in Advertising: A Cross-National Review

From a multinational perspective, this article provides an overview of a number of research programs examining portrayals of older adults in advertising. The research described includes both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the place of older people in advertising and the ways this is associated with older adults’ place in society. This article is organized around three central themes: an overview of the major theoretical perspectives surrounding advertising and aging; an overview of research conducted in the United States, Great Britain, Germany, China, and India; and a final critique.

Age stereotypes and patronizing messages: Features of age‐adapted speech in technical instructions to the elderly

Abstract The goal of this study was to add an applied perspective to age stereotyping and patronizing messages by investigating verbal behavior during an instructions task. Participants (60 young males and 60 females) were required to explain the use and functions of a radio alarm clock to one of three elderly targets (competent elderly vs. less competent elderly vs. age‐only‐labeled 82‐year‐old) as well as an age‐only‐labeled 32‐year‐old. Analyses showed less patronizing features toward a positively‐stereotyped elderly target, yet even then it was age‐adapted rather than “normal adult” speech. Gender differences showed female speakers as more categorical than males. Consequences for the elderly as consumers are discussed.

Power-Related Talk Control in Verbal Interaction

This study examines verbal exchange in a bargaining situation. It focuses on the verbal behavior of subjects holding different hypotheses about the personalities of their partners. Pairs of participants were given the task of fixing a date, time, and place for a meeting. Participants had different timetables to work with and were given different partner information (dominant vs. submissive). The power-related talk approach focuses on the relationship between the claim to be powerful and the response of the target person, who can accept or reject the power claim. The main emphasis is on the dimension of interactional control. Speech patterns were classified as control-claiming moves, controlyielding moves, and control-neutral moves. Results of those control speech patterns and other speech measures (e.g., speech rate, pauses, feedback) showed that the partner hypothesis in particular influenced negotiation strategies. A more context-oriented approach toward power and interaction is suggested.

Politische Deliberation online - Twitter als Element des politischen Diskurses

Die These, dass das Internet die Strukturen von Kommunikation verandert, ist ein zentrales Paradigma der Debatte um die Mediatisierung der Gesellschaft (Krotz 2007). Insbesondere der offentliche Diskurs befindet sich in einem grundlegenden Wandel, da Offentlichkeit nicht mehr allein von etablierten, professionellen Medienschaffenden, sondern zunehmend von institutionell nicht privilegierten Individuen gestaltet wird, die ihre eigene Umwelt zum Gegenstand des offentlichen Diskurses machen. In der mediatisierten Gesellschaft wird Offentlichkeit so ein gemeinsamer politischer (Ver-)Handlungsraum, in dem das Internet immer wichtiger fur kollektiv bindende Entscheidungen wird. Konkret fur die Politik ist es sogar wichtiger als andere Faktoren wie Parteiapparate, Interessengruppen, Experten oder internationale Beziehungen (Vowe 2006: 441).

The Power-Emotion Relationship in Discourse Spontaneous Expression of Emotions in Asymmetric Dialogue

This study examined the verbal production of spontaneous expressions of emotional states, and focused on differences in verbal behavior for subjects holding different hypotheses about the status of their interactional partner. Structured telephone interviews of 41 female students about their studies in psychology were conducted by a male stooge, who was represented either as a fellow first-year student or as a professor. Results revealed significant differences between conditions, particularly with respect to the amount, type, and placement of emotional expressions, as well as differences in the use of markers of social power. Less self-disclosing topics were more typical of the unequal status situation, whereas in the equal status condition there was more metacommunication, student talk, personal topics, and direct and indirect signals of affective states. These results indicate that students regard their emotional input as an important part of their interactions with equal-status partners.

Mediatized Politics — Structures and Strategies of Discursive Participation and Online Deliberation on Twitter

In today’s social environments, many activities implying the construction of cultural and social meaning are intrinsically tied to media. It is not only the interpersonal level of communication that has been shaped by technological innovations like e-mail, instant messaging or chat (Thimm, 2008); but so have complex societal processes. Whether in politics, economy or business, media traverse the whole society. They are part of the transformation of the public sphere and interwoven within the differentiation of new communication structures and segments. Consequently, media development and societal changes have to be seen as closely connected processes. The concept of mediatization offers an approach to explain the reciprocal impact of media on groups and persons, but it also sheds light on structures and processes within public, political, secular, institutional and private spheres and in daily life (see the contributions in Lundby, 2009). As Krotz (2001; 2007) points out, mediatization is one of the pivotal ‘metaprocesses’ by which social and cultural changes can be described and explained: ‘Today, globalization, individualization, mediatization and the growing importance of the economy, which we here call commercialization, can be seen as the relevant metaprocesses that influence democracy and society, culture, politics and other conditions of life over the longer term’ (Krotz, 2007, p. 257).

Soziale Beziehungen und innerbetriebliche Kommunikation : Formen und Funktionen elektronischer Schriftlichkeit in Unternehmen

Die Computerisierung des Alltags hat zur Ausbildung bzw. Modifizierung von Textsorten in privater Kommunikation (vgl. die Beitrage von Gallery, Sassen, Diekmannshenke i.d.Bd.), aber auch zu Veranderungen in betrieblicher Kommunikation gefuhrt. Es sind nicht nur Videokonferenzen, Homepages, elektronische Hauszeitungen oder die Angebote virtueller Unternehmen (Brill & de Vries 1998), die Eckpunkte der Veranderung darstellen, sondern auch die alltagliche Nutzung der internen elektronischen Kommunikationssysteme in Form von E-Mails im Intranet. E-Mail ist eines unter vielen medialen Mitteln, welche MitarbeiterInnen in einem Betrieb zur Verfugung stehen. Vor einigen Jahren noch waren die medialen Angebote deutlich geringer: Neben der Post gab es das Telefon, in speziellen Situationen wurden Telegramme verschickt und in groseren Betrieben kam ein Postbote zum Einsatz, der die hausinterne Post verteilte. Nach und nach etablierten sich — ohne Anspruch auf Vollstandigkeit — Telex, Gegensprechanlage, hausinternes Telefon, Telefonbeantworter, Faxgerate, Videokonferenzen, Voice Box, Voice Mail sowie Intranet und Internet.1 Nicht erst seit McLuhan (1995/1962), aber seit ihm bestimmt, weis man, dass neue Medien alte nicht einfach zum Verschwinden bringen2, sondern dass das vorhandene Spektrum neu unterteilt wird. Bei dieser Neustrukturierung, die ausgesprochen langsam vor sich geht — die erste Implementierung von telnet (Briefe) und von ftp (Datentransfer) erfolgte 1969 (vgl. Scheller, Boden, Geenen, Kampermann 1994) und Mails wurden von einem breiteren Publikum erst in den 70er Jahren verschickt —, werden auch nach und nach neue Bedurfnisse geschaffen, die von den Anwenderinnen erst entdeckt und dann gedeckt sein wollen.

The EU-Election on Twitter: Comparison of German and French Candidates’ Tweeting styles

In this chapter the political implications of social media and their affordances for political discourse are examined. The focus is on candidates’ Twitter usage during the 2014 EU elections in France and in Germany. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of tweets collected during a period of four weeks have been carried out on the basis of the functional operator model of Twitter. The model serves as a framework for assessing users’ tweeting styles, which can range between personal-interactive and topical-informative. The comparison of French and German top candidates’ tweeting styles, which mainly appear to be „personal-interactive“, however questions the candidates’ alleged efforts to enter into dialogue with their voters.

Mediatisierung und Medialität in Social Media: Das Diskurssystem „Twitter“

Mediatization and Mediality in Social Media: the Discourse System Twitter The article contributes to the debate about mediatization and the use of language in social media. The theoretical approach evolves from the intersection of linguistics, media and communication studies. While the concept of mediatization describes relations between medial and sociocultural change and the ubiquity of media in everyday life, the concept of mediality sheds light on the inseparability of media and language. From this interdisciplinary perspective, specific practices of media and language use within the microblogging service Twitter were analyzed. Examples from different case studies reveal certain user practices that can be described as formed by ‘moulding forces’ of the medium Twitter without considering technology as determining or symptomatic. Our analysis shows that the use of specific semiotic and functional operators (#, @, RT, http://) establish user practices of creating personal and semantic references and thus constitute Twitter as a multi-referential discourse system.

„Wie im richtigen Leben...“: Soziale Identität und sprachliche Kommunikation in einer Newsgroup

“Wie im richtigen Leben...”, so lautet die einzige Zeile des Postings einer Teilnehmerin der Newsgroup de.soc.senioren,die damit unter dem Betreff: “das mus jetzt aber auch mal raus..” eine generelle Einschatzung bezuglich der Kommunikation in der betreffenden Newsgroup abgab. Sie charakterisiert mit diesem Vergleich die uber mehrere Tage hin- und hergehende Auseinandersetzung um die inhaltliche Qualitat der angesprochenen Themen in der NG, den angemessenen Sprachgebrauch sowie die personlichen Attacken zwischen einigen Mitgliedern der NG. Dieser Vergleich formuliert eine aufschlussreiche Teilnehmersicht uber die Wahrnehmung von Gemeinsamkeit zwischen Netzkommunikation und Alltagsgesprach.