Troubled Minors and Social Networks: “Newspaper for a Narrow Circle” (Cultural Research in the Linguistic Aspect)

Abstract

It often happens that a community of regular respondents on certain forums is formed in social networks. Visitors, usually referred to as persons with deviant behavior in educational institutions, often settle in such anonymous communities. They are attracted in electronic communication by the opportunity to correspond with an opponent (often with everyone at once), without restraining their emotions, and to use rude words and expressions, up to the most extreme. It is especially difficult, almost impossible, to draw such an interlocutor out and to frankly talk about anything, be it sports, politics, education, or any other topic of everyday discussions. A person (let's call him a subject) only pretends to be interested in a particular topic, but his real purpose is to get involved in a conversation, briefly, quickly and roughly covering as many respondents as possible with an answer. Thus, he constantly brightens up his loneliness. As a rule, the respondent of this type does not linger on any one interlocutor: his method is “self-affirmation by mass character”. However, we managed, with the help of patient explanatory work, to continue correspondence with “I.G.” until the moment of full understanding of the young man's inability to have a healthy discussion: the source of swear words has dried up, and the subject simply did not maintain other types of communication. Nevertheless, he undoubtedly is worldly-wise: he tries not to discuss those areas in which rude judgments can be fraught with prosecution, in general, he avoids reporting at least some data about himself, hiding behind rudeness and swearing the fear of giving them away accidentally. But people who have been visiting the same social media pages for years, against their desire, give indirect hints about their personality and their lifestyle. Actually, the study is about the fact that, despite the respondent's desire (unwillingness), his language (spontaneous speech presented in the form of an electronic text) can tell a lot.