My master's thesis on online communication

[[wcip]Angel]

Thanks for the tips, Kandrathe:)I've made a note about both e.e. cummings the gonzo journalistic style and done some preliminary investigating into these subjects. (Nothing heavy, just reading up on these subjects on Wikipedia to get an impression. I had heard about e.e. cummings but was unfamiliar with his poetry. Had not heard of gonzo journalism, but I now have a better understanding of Bob Bulldog Brisco's sports show:P)

Although I've made some general notes, I still feel rather directionless. I've put my aims into words:

My aim is to discuss the limitations on content and style of publicised texts in two domains: the virtual realm of CMC and the real realm of traditional writing and also to explain what sets these limitations.

.. but I'm still struggling to get a good handle on how to approach this. I feel like the subject-matter is just out of my reach.

What is meant by "traditional writing and publication"? Newspaper articles, poetry, fiction, letters? When I got the topic for my presentation, I automatically assumed that I would be comparing two similar media in two different domains (e.g. emails vs letters; they're both 1-1 correspondence and they're both (often) personal). But then again, private letters are not "published" in the strictest sense of the word?

Moreover, what about forum posts (the main medium of my thesis)? To my knowledge, there really isn't a direct equivalent to this in the "traditional" realm of writing and publication. Perhaps I'm putting too much emphasis on the "publication". When I read the word "publication", I think about bound books, copyists, publicisists, book stores, reviewers, etc. Perhaps "publication" only refers to the fact that the written material is somehow delivered to the reader (e.g a letter sent via mail).. I don't know. I'm still feeling a bit flustered.

I've made this preliminary outline to get my thoughts going:

Code:

Outline
•    Introduction: What am I going to talk about?
    o    What are my aims?
    o    Give a preliminarly definition of Computer-Mediated Communication. Which media am I talking about?
         Forum post, email, chatting?
    o    Give a preliminary definition  traditional writing and publication! Which media am I talking about here?
         Poetry, newspapers, literature?
    o    CMC is an interactional form of communication between (groups of) individuals, traditional writing is
         informational. What effect does this have an freedom of expression, style and control?
    o    CMC is a form of communication used by ordinary people. Traditional writing is usually carried out by
         professional authors, journalists or poets. Does this mean that their form of expression is more    
         restricted or less so than that of CMC?
    o    What about means of control? Who controls CMC? (Moderators) Who controls traditional writing and
         publication?
•    Main section
    o    Define and explain CMC
    o    Define and explain traditional writing and publication
    o    Freedom of expression:
         In CMC
         In traditional writing
    o    Freedom of Style
         In CMC
         In traditional writing
    o    Meants of Control
         In CMC
         In Traditional writing
•    Summing up and comparing findings
•    Conclusion – What have I talked about?
    o    Answer questions and aims from introduction. What are the main differences and similarities between
         these two media of writing in terms of expression, style and control?
•    References

Keep in mind, these are just some thoughts I've jotted down on paper in a word-file. I'm still struggling to collect my thoughts and get a good handle on how I'm going to approach this. Obviously, I need to make some sort of comparison between one or more media of CMC and of traditional writing. The questions are

1. Which ones do I choose? (Forum posts, emails, chatting, web pages) (Newspapers, letters, fiction?)
2. How do I go about comparing them? Should I do a text type analysis of the media like I did with forum posts and emails in my thesis? IIRC, Görlach's categories did touch on the issues of expression, style and control.
3. Obviously, I could make a note of e.e. cummings and gonzo journalism if these are the text types I choose to focus on, but even so, these are not conventional and representative examples of their respective genres, but merely examples of the most extreme uses.

Hmmm.. I guess the most important thing for me right now is trying to figure out which text types to focus on, and try to figure out what is meant by "publication", because I have the nagging feeling that this word is tripping me up more than necessary.