Digital space

Abstract

This chapter introduces an approach to studying digital spaces using conversation analytical procedures. The central premise is to demonstrate that digital interactions can be analyzed by looking at the organization of actions-to-actions rather than the moment-by-moment construction of actions. An actions-to-actions perspective enables researchers to overcome temporal and structural challenges in digital interaction and to pay attention to the unique contextual characteristics that digital spaces provide. The chapter focuses on social media platforms as digital spaces, using two platforms, Twitter (X) and TikTok, as exemplary cases. By exploring the progressive and sequential organization of assessments within these digital spaces, this chapter illustrates how interaction analysts can draw on the complex interplay between contexts, contents, and affordances, as well as the ways in which social activities are conducted in this relational complexity.