Chapter 1
Expanding pragmatics
Values, goals, ranking, and internet adaptability
A pragmatic (rather than merely ‘extended’) perspective on
internet user values regards both the value(s) of the interaction and those of its
results. Firstly, a pragmatic evaluation presupposes that the interactants are
agreed on what to evaluate and how, which implies
the values being ordered in a ‘ranking’ according to importance. On the internet,
such values depend on ‘likes’ or ‘hits’; the number of times a contribution has been
accessed, even if negatively (in a so-called ‘shit storm’) makes it important.
Secondly, being based on ranking, the evaluation is pragmatic:
values are not a priori given, but emerge in interaction. Ranking presupposes the
users’ accepting society’s values and collaborating in their creation; on the
internet, this is done through ‘meaning making’ activities like ‘texting,’
‘tweeting,’ or ‘instagramming.’ Current evaluation, in contrast to earlier, is
ubiquitous, continuous, and accessible by i-Phone, i-Pad or other social-mediatic
devices. Access and speed are important here; one cannot with impunity disregard a
tweet, a writing on one’s Facebook, or an Instagram sent by one of one’s
contacts.
Keywords: values in pragmatics, expanding pragmatics, extending pragmatics, evaluation, internet cline, ranking, interaction, ‘meaning-making’, social media, goals, adaptability
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Extending or expanding
- 3.A man and his cat: Value and behavior
- 4.Goals and values
- 5.Values in society
- 6.The ‘honor’ problem
- 7.Truth and value in science
- 8.The pragmatics of value
- 9.Value-laden conflict: The participant observer
- 10.‘Are they biting?’: Values and pragmemes
- 11.User values in the cyber world
- 12.Conclusion: Adaptability vs. adaptivity
-
Notes
-
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