My Discourse Community consists of various aspects of my life in which I feel best represent me. Electrical and Computer Engineering, Facebook, World of Warcraft and Partners in Education have unique communities that use many different genres to communicate. Each of these communities has specific goals, target a wide variety of audiences and have very different conventions. Also discussed will be some of the ways to join these communities.
Electrical and Computer Engineering is the degree plan I chose to study. The reason I chose this specific degree has to deal directly with my recent career in the army. What I wish to accomplish while attending the University of Texas at El Paso is simple, I want a deeply rooted knowledge of computers and how to construct them so I may apply that knowledge to a career that works in creating new technologies for the Armed Forces. While attending school I need to maintain a very professional and ethics based convention; by doing so will help me stay focused and really understand the information that is being taught. The audience I will be dealing with on a daily basis will be my scholarly peers and Instructors. While talking and discussing assignments or just life in general with my audience, there is also a new technology that seems to be sweeping over the campus. The internet provides us with programs such as “Blackboard” in which most of my classes are using to communicate not only with the Instructors but with my peers as well. I really appreciate how the University is transitioning with technology because it keeps me updated with different ways to learn.
Family and friends are always important and distance used to be a barrier not easily overtaken. However, with Facebook, I am able to communicate freely with both family and friends without having to spend money on long distance phone calls. Conventions normally do not exist on my Facebook page, although due to the younger audiences that are able to read replies, I make sure to keep the content of my profile appropriate to be viewed by all ages. I use this online medium for informing others on life changing events or simple updates. I do not blog, reply or comment as much as other people. I normally upload pictures and write brief comments to friends and family to stay in touch. If anyone wants to be a member of this online discourse community I would inform them of the website and instruct them to sign-up by providing an e-mail address and password. It sounds simple enough but once potential members get started they need to be aware of the specialized languages used on Facebook. Abbreviations commonly used are “LOL” (Laugh out Loud), “w/” (with) and “w/o” (without). Once members get familiar with this community it is hard to ignore it, they can easily stay in touch with literally thousands of people in a few simple clicks and keystrokes.
World of Warcraft is a huge “MMO” (Massively Multiplayer Online) game. With over 11 million subscriptions of all ages you cannot say that it is a small community. The object of this game is to get your guild or community of players to constantly progress through the game. Being that there are so many people that play this game and want to become better at it, there are multiple online forums and strategy guides to help members get to the next level. While playing, players can easily access different mediums to communicate with people through various types of chat rooms, or using your voice to communicate through the game “VOIP” (Voice over Internet Protocol) system. As one progresses through the game, the more popular lingo can be learned such as “TOC” (Trials of the Crusader), “RS” (Ruby Sanctum), “ICC” (Ice Crown Citadel), and “LFW” (Looking for Work). There is a fee to become a member of this particular Community. The initial cost of the game and a monthly fee is $15.00, so only those who can afford membership will join this community.
While I was in the military I had the opportunity to be involved with Partners in Education (P.I.E.) program. P.I.E. is a volunteer program for soldiers to help area El Paso Schools with tutoring, mentorship and other needs of those schools. Memorandums, pamphlets, e-mails and calling the schools are just some of the forms of media used to communicate between the many partner schools. Professional conventions are used in this community as well. The audience is made of school faculty members, soldiers and students. If members of the Army stationed at Ft. Bliss would like to become a member they would simply mention it to their Chain of Command and volunteer their time.
These are the discourse communities which are most prevalent in my life. It has taken some adjustment and time in my life to be able to balance all of the communities at once. The four discourse communities I have discussed uniquely influenced and over time helped me develop my own writing style.
