engleski

Rhetorical characteristics of video blogs

Video blogs (vlogs) are brief, informal video speeches, composed casually and shared online. But despite their seemingly everyday and ordinary tone, many media commentators have described video blogs as one of the most transformative and revolutionary of all new media forms. Scholars from various fields have been researching the phenomenon of video blogs since they appeared in early 2000s, but despite the fact that video blog is undoubtedly a public speech, there is not much research on the rhetorical aspects of vlogs. This research represents the analysis of introductions and conclusions of Croatian videoblogs and its main purpose was to determine the rhetorical specificities of a vlog as a widespread, but still not quite defined form of new media. A total of 28 vlogs from 9 different vlog channels was selected for the analysis. The analysis has shown that vlog combines elements of traditional public speech and rhetorical genres of electronic media, while the language and speech style used in vlogs are similar to those used in casual dialogic conversation. It was also found that the main Function of vlogs in general is creating the impression of conversation to encourage online interaction with the audience. Therefore, vlog is a hybrid rhetorical form which is essentially monologic, but has a dialogic purpose. Conclusions of the analysis can be used in working with vloggers on the quality of their speech, since their impact on viewers is growing, but also in schools since video is a very adaptable medium and vlogs could be used in various useful ways in school classes.

videoblog, new media, public speech, electronic media, dialogue, interaction

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