Genres in Digital and Social Media: From the Editor

The special issue examines text genres and linguistic representation in new media, digital and social. Digital media acquire the status of «meta media» in relation to traditional communication formats. New media bring us back to fundamental questions about genre. The emergence of new genres is determined by two key factors: changes in society and societal institutions, and the spread of new technologies. Digital media use both traditional, long established «old» genres and new ones that emerge. The linguistic features and communicative techniques are not only determined by technical means but also arise as a result of the interaction between social and communicative goals and forms of communication. The published articles address significant issues related to linguistic and other semiotic resources for expressing meanings, depending on the medium, as well as to the means of expressing evaluation, the strategies and communicative moves, and multimodal structures.