Specific features of Italian speakers' communication in social networks

This bachelor thesis deals with communication of Italian native speakers on social networks and its specific features. The theoretical part will give a definition to some terms related to on-line communication, as for example the virtual community or instant messaging. Subsequently I will try to define the term social network. The key element of this part is a sub-chapter focused on main characteristics of the communication on social networks. Besides other points I will concentrate on the reciprocal influence between the written and spoken communication and the economy of expressions. The practical part initially describes some orthographical and phonetic changes within this type of communication in Italian. After this subject the morphological and syntactical specifics of the way of expressing of selected Facebook users will be analysed. The crucial part is the characteristic of vocabulary, for instance in terms of shortened expressions or changes in diacritics and punctuation. Using Anglicisms and emoticons will also be dealed. In closing a brief comparison with the same phenomenon in Portuguese will be provided