‘Beyond the Offline’: Social Media and the Social Meaning of Variation in East London Christian Ilbury Queen Mary, University of London July 2019 Abstract Recent sociolinguistic analyses have emphasised that a diversification of tools is needed to isolate the social meaning of variation (e.g., Campbell-Kibler, 2010; Drager, 2016). Yet to date, few studies have considered social media in their accounts of offline patterns of variation. Given that the current era is often described as a period of ‘digital culture’ (Gere, 2002), it seems necessary for variationist sociolinguistics to take stock of both the ‘offline’ and the ‘online’ practices of speakers to fully understand the implications of social media for linguistic differentiation and its social meaning. Taking this empirical gap as a point of departure, this thesis presents a ‘blended ethnography’ (Androutsopoulos, 2008) of a youth group that I refer to as ‘Lakeside’ based in a working-class neighbourhood in East London. Data were gathered over the course of a 12-month offline and online blended ethnography, resulting in the collection of over 40 hours of recordings (self-recordings and interviews) from 25 adolescents (aged 11-17) and over 850 social media posts (Snapchat Stories and Instagram posts) from a subset of participants and entertainment channels. To examine patterns of sociolinguistic variation at Lakeside, variationist analyses were conducted on three features that represent distinct levels of the linguistic system: Phonological variation in the interdental fricatives (TH/DH- fronting and TH/DH-stopping); grammatical variation in the use of the man pronoun; and discourse- pragmatic variation in the use of an innovative attention signal ey. Although previous variety-based accounts of linguistic variation in East London have shown the distribution of some of these features to be largely constrained by ‘macro-level’ factors such as ethnicity and homophily of friendship networks (e.g., MLE: Cheshire et al., 2008; 2011; Cheshire, 2013), this thesis presents a more style-oriented account of the variation observed. Using distributional, statistical and interactional analyses to examine the three variables, I show that the use of these features can be largely accounted for by the individuals’ membership of a specific CofP – in particular the self-defined ‘gully’ – an exclusively male group that is characterised by an orientation towards an ‘urban’ subculture. Interpreting these patterns, I then turn to the social media data (Snapchat Stories and Instagram posts) to explore how the social context of Lakeside becomes networked in digital space. I focus on the ways in which entertainment channels on Instagram and individuals’ Snapchat Stories facilitate the enregisterment of the ‘Digital Road’ – where the Road cultural aesthetic becomes reconfigured in the online context. Concluding, I link the gully to their macro-level social reality, suggesting that this CofP adopt and emulate the physical, ideological and personal characteristics of an enregistered characterological figure that has become commodified in common culture (Agha, 2003; 2011) – the Roadman. Queen Mary’s OPAL #40 Occasional Papers Advancing Linguistics Acknowledgments Undertaking this thesis has been both emotionally and personally challenging, but it has been a privilege to write. I am greatly indebted to a number of people who have shared with me their lives, their knowledge, and their kindness throughout. These words may be attributed to me as the sole author, but this thesis is, in Bhaktin’s terms, imbued with the voices of Others. Over the course of my PhD, I have been privileged to have met individuals who have been crucial in the development of this research. I especially want to acknowledge the help, support, and enthusiasm of all the young people and staff at Lakeside. Without you, this research would have not been possible. I owe my PhD to you. During my fieldwork, I was constantly in awe of the amazing community you had built and tireless sense of altruism that all of you strived so hard to achieve. For some, Lakeside may have just been a youth group, but my experience at the club made me realise how transformative that safe-haven was for the young people, and how hard the volunteers worked to maintain that. I have great admiration and respect for the work that you do at Lakeside – thank you for allowing me into your community and for letting me learn more about your lives. This thesis, of course, would have not been possible without the very many people who have helped me climb – what I perceived to be – the ivory tower of academia. From primary to secondary school, undergraduate to postgraduate studies, I have benefitted from the knowledge and time of people who have helped me gain the best education I could. Whether that was my secondary English teacher, Ms. Yeadon, who first suggested taking Linguistics at University, or the department at Sussex who persuaded me to embark on my postgraduate studies, I have been lucky enough to have benefitted from so many inspiring people who have helped me get here. I am particularly thankful for the financial support provided to me by the Economic Social Research Council, without which, I would not have been able to embark on this path in life. My foray into academia has often been impeded by own insecurities. At school, I was average (at best!) and as the first generation to attend University, there was no template for me to follow. I often felt stifled by the notion that there was ‘one 4 way’ of doing academia. But, over the course of my education, I am grateful to have been part of communities that constantly force me to revaluate my preconceptions and show me that there are multiple ways of doing academia. And, of course, conference karaoke does feature as part of this. In a way, then, this thesis is dedicated to those who can’t find their place in life, who realise they may be slightly unconventional or, like me, was laughed at for going to the “shit school” (as it was known in the local area). You can do it too. One of the greatest privileges of this experience is undertaking my PhD research at an institution has been so much more than a workplace, QMUL. I feel so grateful that I have been able to benefit from an immensely diverse and world- leading group of researchers who have gone above and beyond their call to contribute ideas, provide feedback and generally help me make this thesis the best it could be. Of course, most of this help and advice can be attributed to my supervisor, Erez. I could not have asked for anything more of a supervisor. He has constantly provided me with extensive feedback, read endless drafts, suggested new approaches, and has, ultimately, had a huge impact on the type of academic I am. I constantly amazed at his academic ability to publish relentlessly, give keynote lectures in multiple areas of the field, teach an overwhelming variety of courses and summer schools, yet all whilst remaining a highly grounded person who always had time for me. I am eternally grateful to you for teaching me how to do academia. When I speak to a lot of PhD students, they often say that they find the loneliness the hardest part of the process. I’m thankful to say that I never experienced these feelings because of the amazing community of PhD’s at QM – the LingLab. From the tea-train to the karaoke nights at BGWMC, you’ve all made this journey so much more than ‘writing a thesis’. I have made life-long friends from this process and I am grateful to all of you, in particular Shivonne, Danniella, Melisa, and Zoe (amongst others!), for being far more than colleagues. Finally, I must acknowledge the love and support of my friends and family. I am grateful to have had the largest group of ‘cheerleaders’ who constantly celebrate my successes. My friends have been vital in keeping me grounded – never letting academia take over my life and plying me with endless rounds of prosecco. And without the encouragement from my family, I would have never have even considered the possibility of undertaking a PhD. To my parents: I am so grateful to 5 you for supporting me (financially and emotionally!) and for being two of the most selfless people I have ever met. I am where I am because of you and I am eternally grateful for the sacrifices you have made for me to get here. 6 Contents Statement of Originality 1 Abstract 2 Acknowledgments 4 Contents 7 Tables 13 Figures 14 Transcription Conventions 16 1 Introduction 17 1.1 Digital Communication & Sociolinguistics 20 1.1.1 The ‘Second-Wave’ of Digital Communication Research 22 1.2 Variationist Perspectives on Digital Communication 23 1.3 Beyond the Offline: Digital Dualism & Augmented Reality 24 1.4 Toward a ‘Blended Ethnography’ 28 1.5 Structure of this Thesis 29 2 The Variationist Paradigm 32 2.1 Introduction 32 2.2 The Variationist Paradigm & the First Wave 32 2.2.1 Social Class 33 2.2.2 Gender 34 2.2.3 Age 35 2.2.4 Social Meaning in the First-Wave 37 2.3 From Macro- to Micro- Levels of Analysis 38 2.4 The Second Wave 40 7 2.5 Style 44 2.5.1 Style as ‘Attention’ 44 2.5.2 Audience Design 46 2.6 The Third Wave 47 2.6.1 Indexicality 49 2.6.2 Social Meaning in the Third Wave 54 2.7 Repertoires and Style 56 2.7.1 Speech Repertoires 56 2.7.2 Enregisterment and Characterological Figures 57 2.7.3 Stylisation 59 2.7.4 Style and Authenticity 61 2.8 Summary 63 3 The Offline: An Ethnography of Lakeside 64 3.1 Introduction 64 3.2 Ethnography and Sociolinguistics 64 3.3 Identifying a Field Site 68 3.4 The Community 71