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Article published In:
Internet Pragmatics
Vol. 5:2 (2022) ► pp.257–290

Jelou pipol

Computer-mediated communication among Spanish-speaking gamers on Twitch

| Autonomous University of Madrid

This study explores the characteristics of the language used in Twitch, one of the most popular streaming platforms worldwide, as an example of computer-mediated communication (CMC). Some of the most salient traits used to describe CMC are found in Twitch chat messages, as the paper will show, confirming that the communicative interaction that takes place among users of this platform matches the features of CMC described in the academic literature. Additionally, the synchronous and multimodal nature of this platform, as well as the pragmatic implications of the use of subscriber-exclusive emotes are peculiarities that must be considered for a comprehensive description of the language that takes place on Twitch. Lastly, in the case of the videogame chats in Spanish studied, the paper introduces as a key factor in the description of this language the characteristics of the lexicon: its foreign origin, its neological nature and its high level of terminological specialisation.

Keywords: Twitch, computer-mediated communication (CMC), cyberpragmatics, games, anglicisms, lexicon, multimodal communication
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1An approach to understanding Twitch from the academic literature
  • 2.Research aims and methodology
    • 2.1Selection, upload and treatment of research data
  • 3.Description of the language of Twitch in the framework of CMC
    • 3.1Traits of the digital language observed in Twitch chat messages
      • 3.1.1Morphology: Abbreviation, acronym, clipping
      • 3.1.2Syntax: Fragmentariness and performative predications
      • 3.1.3Non-normative orthography and strange typographical forms
        • 3.1.3.1Emotes on Twitch
  • 4.Language used in Twitch among Spanish speakers: Anglicism, terminological characteristics and pragmatic consequences
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 1 June 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ip.00081.cot
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