Retwitting, Reposting, Repinning; Reshaping Identities Online: Towards a Social Semiotic Multimodal Analysis of Digital Remediation

Abstract

The paper focuses on crossposting, as a form of digital remediation consisting in the production and distribution of multimodal texts in multiple online spaces through embedding and sharing. The study sketches the analytical steps to approach the phenomenon, applying them on a UK food blogger’s activity spanning her blog, her Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram accounts. In the instance examined, recontextualized texts are re-genred; genre assignment is given by the combination of the multimodal configuration in each space and the blogger’s use of these affordances to her aims. Through minimum new text creation, by recontextualizing her texts in different spaces, the blogger can shape differently her relation with the audience. The analytical framework is intended as a flexible tool that, adjusted as appropriate, can be used for a broader in-depth analysis of crossposting.