This communication research study identifies the presence of the African-American rhetorical traditions of call-response, signification, tonal semantics, and narrative sequencing used in communication on the online social media network, Twitter. The objective of this study is to provide insight into the culture and community of Twitter. Additionally, the research demonstrates how traditional oral rhetorical traditions survive in the digital world. Over a 15-day period, tweets were collected by the author using a computer screenshot feature. Using a coding rubric, three coders, including the author, coded the collected tweets for the four rhetorical traditions. Resulting from this procedure, the coders concluded the presence of all four African-American rhetorical traditions used by Tweeters, as well as evolved forms of certain traditions. These findings provide evidence of a distinct Twitter community and prompt further research on the transfer of traditional oral rhetoric from offline communities to online communities.
","abstract_html":"<p>This communication research study identifies the presence of the African-American rhetorical traditions of call-response, signification, tonal semantics, and narrative sequencing used in communication on the online social media network, Twitter. The objective of this study is to provide insight into the culture and community of Twitter. Additionally, the research demonstrates how traditional oral rhetorical traditions survive in the digital world. Over a 15-day period, tweets were collected by the author using a computer screenshot feature. Using a coding rubric, three coders, including the author, coded the collected tweets for the four rhetorical traditions. Resulting from this procedure, the coders concluded the presence of all four African-American rhetorical traditions used by Tweeters, as well as evolved forms of certain traditions. These findings provide evidence of a distinct Twitter community and prompt further research on the transfer of traditional oral rhetoric from offline communities to online communities.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Long, Tiffani"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Communication, Media and Theatre Arts","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Michael Tew, Ph.D., Chair","Doris Fields, Ph.D.","Jack Kay, Ph.D."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-12-12T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-12-12T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:51Z","subjects":["communities","culture","rhetoric","twitter","online","language","Communication","Communication Technology and New Media","Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/442","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Michael Tew, Ph.D., Chair","Doris Fields, Ph.D.","Jack Kay, Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Long, Tiffani"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-04-24T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Communication, Media and Theatre Arts"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["communities","culture","rhetoric","twitter","online","language","Communication","Communication Technology and New Media","Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/442"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This communication research study identifies the presence of the African-American rhetorical traditions of call-response, signification, tonal semantics, and narrative sequencing used in communication on the online social media network, Twitter. The objective of this study is to provide insight into the culture and community of Twitter. Additionally, the research demonstrates how traditional oral rhetorical traditions survive in the digital world. Over a 15-day period, tweets were collected by the author using a computer screenshot feature. Using a coding rubric, three coders, including the author, coded the collected tweets for the four rhetorical traditions. Resulting from this procedure, the coders concluded the presence of all four African-American rhetorical traditions used by Tweeters, as well as evolved forms of certain traditions. These findings provide evidence of a distinct Twitter community and prompt further research on the transfer of traditional oral rhetoric from offline communities to online communities.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["As seen on twitter: African-American rhetorical traditions gone viral"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Michael Tew, Ph.D., Chair","Doris Fields, Ph.D.","Jack Kay, Ph.D."],"dc:creator":["Long, Tiffani"],"dc:date.available":["2013-04-24T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This communication research study identifies the presence of the African-American rhetorical traditions of call-response, signification, tonal semantics, and narrative sequencing used in communication on the online social media network, Twitter. The objective of this study is to provide insight into the culture and community of Twitter. Additionally, the research demonstrates how traditional oral rhetorical traditions survive in the digital world. Over a 15-day period, tweets were collected by the author using a computer screenshot feature. Using a coding rubric, three coders, including the author, coded the collected tweets for the four rhetorical traditions. Resulting from this procedure, the coders concluded the presence of all four African-American rhetorical traditions used by Tweeters, as well as evolved forms of certain traditions. These findings provide evidence of a distinct Twitter community and prompt further research on the transfer of traditional oral rhetoric from offline communities to online communities.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/442"],"dc:subject":["communities","culture","rhetoric","twitter","online","language","Communication","Communication Technology and New Media","Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication"],"dc:title":["As seen on twitter: African-American rhetorical traditions gone viral"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Communication, Media and Theatre Arts"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:51Z"}