One certain discourse community that helps shapes our writing and how we communicate with those around us is Facebook. Facebook is a very popular social network that many people in society join. The main common goals that pertain to that social group are reuniting with friends and family, meeting new people who share the same interests as you, and also becoming more social with others. The genre or ways we communicate in this certain discourse community is by sending email messages, communicating in chat rooms, and receiving text message notifications. Those who belong to Facebook share a specialized vocabulary than those who are not involved in this social group. Some of the specialized vocabulary that is involved is poke wars, hitting the like button, and abbreviating most of the words we speak today such as lol, hmu, w/e, etc.
Another social group that helps examine how common goals help shape communication found within that community is being a UTEP student. Some major specific goals that thousands of students share in this discourse community is by developing good time management, achieving a high grade point average, and also receiving a degree that follows the certain career path that you chose to follow. The genre associated with the University of Texas at El Paso as a student is communicating using blackboard, emailing professors, and reading the flyers and newspapers given around campus. UTEP students also share a unique vocabulary that other universities around the country. This specialized vocabulary includes UTEP Golddiggers, our chant go miners, and the specific names of each building such as the Union.
Twitter is also a new and very popular discourse community that many people belong to. The individuals who communicate in this social group are known and referred to as tweeters. The common goals shared in this group are updating your status of what you are doing at specific moments, keeping in touch with friends all around the world, and following those who share common interests and values as you. The genre or way we communicate in writing within this discourse community is sending and receiving tweets, instant messaging, and creating mentions or shout outs to your friends whose statuses you liked. The specific vocabulary written in this discourse community includes retweets, trending tops, and twitter jail. This vocabulary allows those in this group to share common interests and write to each other in a unique way than those who do not belong to this community.
One last social group that most people in society belong to is family. Some of the most common goals shared in this discourse community are keeping connected with our family members, sharing family values and traditions, and caring for those we love and care about. The genre family members communicate by in this group are using cell phones, attending family reunions, and visiting one another every once in a while. Communicating in this way helps shapes our writing because we pass on the languages and traditions we learned growing up. The specialized vocabulary used in this social group is our unique last names that differentiate us from other families, speaking our native language amongst are family members, and being involved in special traditions no other families share.
Belonging to various discourse communities or social groups in society can tremendously improve your writing by the way communicate with those belonging to the same group. The specific ways we communicate in these groups allow us share common goals, specialized genres, and specialized vocabulary that only individuals in that specific discourse community understand. Other than sharing common interests and values amongst each other, belonging to many discourse communities also allows us develop writing skills in the way we communicate that we can pass on to other friends, family, and future children. The communication we as a society speak today will help shape our writing, whether it is oral, visual, or written. Writing is a social act that allows citizens in society to connect with others and improve our way of life.
