Zurich Open Repository and Archive University of Zurich Main Library Strickhofstrasse 39 CH-8057 Zurich www.zora.uzh.ch Year: 2015 Facebook graph search for refined screen-based data collection in CMC:A pilot study for Fiji English Huber, André DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2015.03.001 Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-115932 Journal Article Accepted Version The following work is licensed under a Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License. Originally published at: Huber, André (2015). Facebook graph search for refined screen-based data collection in CMC: A pilot study for Fiji English. Discourse, Context Media, 10:10-18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2015.03.001 Facebook Graph Search for Refined Screen-Based Data Collection in CMC – A Pilot Study for Fiji English André Huber University of Zürich, English Department, Plattenstrasse 47, 8032 Zürich, Switzerland.
[email protected], (+41) 44 634 39 37 Abstract In sociolinguistics, the advantages of web-based research are often lost because it can rarely satisfy the need for social variables without additional offline data. Facebook Graph Search is a new query tool, which allows highly specific retrieval of Facebook users and can thus mitigate this dilemma. In this paper, Facebook Graph Search will be introduced and a pilot study in computer-mediated communication and Fiji English will demonstrate the suitability of Graph Search for exploratory research in a speech community. The pilot study shows that there are differences in language choice based on age and context of use: English is preferred over local indigenous languages by younger users and in wall posts.