Internet Culture Through Internet Relay Chat (Irc)/Chat

¶ … Internet Culture through Internet Relay Chat (IRC)/Chat room Language in Yahoo! Channels

This research will study the kind of language used in Yahoo! channels in Internet Relay Chat (IRC) rooms in the United States. This multi-method (quantitative-qualitative) study will determine the form, content, and meaning of the chat room language through the analysis of acronyms, emoticons, jargon, and speech. In addition to the analysis of these linguistic codes, chat room language will be studied as a new system of communication where the kind of language, user profiles, and norms / conventions / 'netiquette' within the Internet culture will be identified. This research will, in effect, contribute and provide essential information about the emerging phenomena of Internet culture and Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC), particularly in the American setting.

GENERAL OBJECTIVE:

To determine and describe the American Internet culture through the aspect of language as determined in Yahoo! channels' Internet Relay Chat (IRC) messages.

METHODOLOGY:

Research Design and Methods

The research will be both descriptive and exploratory in gathering, analyzing, and interpreting primary and secondary data through research methods in order to provide a general description of Internet culture in the United States using its language characteristics of chat room messages in Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channels of Yahoo!.

Research paradigms that will be used for this research are qualitative and quantitative research methods. For the quantitative research paradigm, content analysis will be used to determine the form and structure of chat messages while the survey method will be conducted to verify first-hand information acquired through the content analysis. The qualitative research paradigm, on the other hand, will make use of the textual analysis in order to analyze the content of chat messages and meanings implicitly and/or explicitly expressed in these messages. Participant-observation method will be useful for obtaining first-hand data on identifying chat room language in Yahoo! IRC channels.

Variables

Content Analysis composition of chat language (letters/words present) in acronyms, emoticons, and jargon in chat messages structure/form of chat language- length of words and font size, text color, and time period spent in sending chat messages

Survey

Profile of chatters (user profile)

Conventions observed while chatting

Acronyms, emoticons, and jargon used

Concepts

Textual Analysis

Themes / topics discussed in chat rooms

Meanings in chat acronyms, emoticons, and jargon used

Nicks' used by chatters

Participant-Observation (researchers as participants)

Communication participation while chatting (group or interpersonal (one-on-one))

Conventions observed (by the researchers) while chatting

Form and structure of chat messages used

Content and meanings expressed in chat messages

Acronyms, emoticons, and jargon used

Instrumentation

For every research method used, there will be a corresponding research instrument that will be formulated:

1. Content Analysis- content analysis form

2. Survey- questionnaires and interview schedule

3. Textual Analysis- textual analysis form

4. Participant- Observation- observation guides, procedures, and 'scripts' to be followed by researchers containing essential elements needed for the content and textual analyses

Units of Analysis

Primary units of analysis for this research will be chat messages obtained from Yahoo! IRC channels in the U.S. Chatters that will be selected for the survey are chatters participating in any of the channels registered under Yahoo! Surveys for chatters in these Yahoo! channels will be respondents for an online survey to be conducted after the textual analysis of the IRC messages. Lastly, the researchers of this study will also become UOA for the participant-observation method. Field notes obtained from chat participation of the researchers in the Yahoo! IRC channels will also be documented to provide further insights in the process of analyzing and interpreting the data gathered from the content and textual analyses and survey methods.

Sampling Scheme