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Journal Article 1: Hui-Ching, C. (2001). Harmony as performance: The turbulence under Chinese interpersonal communication. Discourse Studies, 3, 155–170.

Abstract: This article explores how `social harmony' as cultural performance, is conducted by Chinese in their conversation at the surface level, with turbulence and manipulation concealed beneath superficial politeness. Although their more collective cultural orientation may lead them to greater cooperation and less confrontation, Chinese also develop artfully crafted messages to communicate competition and frustration. Selected discourse samples collected in Taiwan were analyzed in depth to show how social harmony may become a matter of external display, constructed, enacted and negotiated through participants' verbal exchanges in their moment-to-moment interaction. It is concluded that superficial harmony allows the extensive web of interpersonal connections and hierarchical positioning to be maintained with minimal discord, while at the same time concealing underlying aggressiveness and ulterior motives.

Journal Article 2: Markman, K. M. (2012). A networked self: Identity, community and culture on social network sites. New Media & Society, 14, 1240–1242. (First published October 18); Papacharissi, Z. (ed.). (2011). A networked self: Identity, community, and culture on social network sites. New York: Routledge. Viii+ 328 pp. ISBN: 9780415801812.

Abstract: The volume is organized with an introduction, three thematic sections, and a conclusion. However, the introduction in this case consists of the keynote address by Albert-László Barabási given to the Networked Self Conference held at the University of Illinois Chicago in 2009, and on which this book is based. The result is a somewhat non-traditional introduction, as Barabási does not introduce the goal of the book and the organization of the chapters, but rather gives readers a grounding in network science, and specifically shows the similarities between human social networks and other biological and technical networks. The benefit of this approach is that it allows readers to discover points of connection among the various chapters themselves, without the voice of the editor interceding. However, this approach also makes it more difficult for readers to choose specific chapters to focus on, which is often how such anthologies are used. Editor Zizi Papacharissi’s conclusion to the volume provides the connective observations and definitions of key terms that are frequently found in the introduction. The remainder of the book is organized around three sections of loosely related chapters. In Part I, readers are presented with several different theoretical approaches to studying SNS usage. Joseph Walther and colleagues present a compelling argument for the need for a convergent approach to the traditionally separate theories that examine interpersonal, mass, and peer communication, noting that the architecture of SNSs and the practices that users engage in regularly blur these lines. Similarly, danah boyd’s discussion of SNSs as a genre of networked publics highlights the tensions between public and private displays and the contributions of SNS architecture to these issues. The importance of architecture is also clear in Marc Andrejevic’s critical examination of the commercial exploitation of the ‘free’ labor of SNS profile creation

Journal Article 3: “Where I can be myself . . . where I can speak my mind”: Networked counterpublics in a polymedia environment. (2014). New Media & Society, 17, 1513–1529.

Abstract: This article takes note of affordances for counterpublic communication on social networking sites (SNSs). Because of the important ways that counterpublic communication is tied to specific platforms, it is necessary to understand why certain platforms are especially conducive (or are seen to be conducive) to counterpublic address. This article uses the example of the asexual community’s use of the SNS Tumblr to explore the affordances of the Tumblr platform for counterpublic communication, comparing Tumblr to the bulletin boards on the popular Asexuality Visibility Education Network website. This article modifies and extends boyd’s analysis of SNSs as networked publics to account for the technological affordances for networked counterpublics. It ends by briefly considering ways that networked counterpublics can be antagonized.