Welcome back to WOR$T BLOG IN AMERICA, daughters. WOOOOO. I was gone for a second, I know y’all missed my blogs. It’s okay, I’m back. I recently learned the term, ‘Discourse Community,’ and thought I’d share my two cents about it. If y’all don’t know, discourse communities are groups of people that all share common goals, using specific language and mechanisms to communicate and achieve some type of goal. These communities can be found ANYWHERE, and these goals don’t have to be serious matters. I know I follow in some of these communities that are so irrelevant to actually succeeding in life, but I am passionate about them so I don’t care !
Before I get into the more unserious discourse communities, let me introduce an example of a more professional discourse community. I work at a Starbucks and this company has managed to create a world-wide discourse community, involving both partners and customers. These stores fill with so many people, ranging from millennials to young adults, or coffee lovers to people that are simply looking for a place to study. So many faces come in, using common terms like the drink sizes–tall, grande, venti, trenta–creating countless customizations to their beverages. People participate in this to follow the same goal as that Starbucks company, to create a meaningful experience that keeps you coming back for more. Educating yourself on Starbucks drinks can originate from so many places , too. The company releases so many different variations of drinks and social media influences so many to try new combinations. The community surrounding Starbucks is endless and both the company and customers crave more.
Anyway, onto the discourse communities I am passionate about that I am involved in. This community is more of a sub-community living under a huge community. It focuses on my good sister, Wanda Maximoff--AKA the Scarlet Witch. If you don’t know, Wanda Maximoff is from the Marvel Universe, who has become one of the most popular individuals in fictional characters in the recent years. Wanda has become an iconic symbol for Marvel, becoming so popular people joined the fandom just to follow this character. Marvel fans, non-marvel fans, and Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) fans all participate in a fandom based off this one character because she is so iconic. So many individuals communicate through jokes and niche references in so many ways. Comic-Con is a popular gathering where many will dress as the Scarlet Witch and social media platforms are another place of gathering that people participate in to spread their knowledge and love for this character. I remember 2021 when peak marvel fans argued relentlessly trying to prove whether or not Wanda or Thor would win in a fight. (Marvel ended up releasing a show called Marvel Zombies, and Wanda absolutely cleared Thor, so eat that, Thor fans). People share so many goals to prove whether or not Wanda is the most powerful in the MCU and share the common values of character development and emotional storytelling because of Wanda’s complex and depressing storyline. They mention how Wanda is classified as a witch, a variant, or nexus being, all following a language code that applies to marvel characters. All these phrases may be confusing, but watching the MCU films can easily teach you how to understand what they mean. I encourage everyone, if they are open to it, to give up some time and watch the MCU films because the Marvel community is amazing!
One of my favorite terms to describe Wanda Maximoff, is mother. Popularly used in another one of my favorite discourse communities–stan twitter. I love Stan twitter so much. When I tell you, Stan twitter is the funniest community, I mean it. People all around the world participate in Stan twitter, but is commonly used by the LGBTQ+ community. This community has so many different aspects to it, valuing loyalty to their favorite characters or music artists, staying updated on them, or even just humor. Some jokingly bash on other artists to prove that their favorite artist is superior. (TTPD blocked billie). Sorry, that’s one of the most known jokes on Stan twitter. People will defend their favorites, no matter what and it can become so ridiculous that it is hilarious. They constantly use different terms to communicate like “mother,” “OOMF,” “tl,” or even just use stupid reaction videos to get their point across. Learning all these terms can be difficult but simply observing how to use these terms educates people on the etiquette taking place on the app.
Of course, discourse communities aren’t always just fun and games, it can also surround work, school, and family, but learning from multiple communities gives excellent experience in ways to communicate with others. This can evolve how you talk to one person then talk to another, it all depends on time and place. These communities can create lasting connections and experiences, but always be mindful about which community you are surrounded by, because one communities vocabulary can differ from another.
