<shameless self-promotion> Dear all, allow me to briefly point those of you studying internet communication from the perspective of linguistics/rhetorics/genre studies (as well as anyone else who might be interested) to my dissertation on corporate blogging, published last year with Göttingen University Press: Puschmann, C. (2010). *The corporate blog as an emerging genre of computer-mediated communication: features, constraints, discourse situation. * (S. Hagenhoff, D. Hogrefe, E. Mittler, M. Schumann, G. Spindler, & V. Wittke, eds.) Göttinger Schriften zur Internetforschung (Vol. 7). Göttingen: Universitätsverlag Göttingen. Abstract: Digital technology is increasingly impacting how we keep informed, how we communicate professionally and privately, and how we initiate and maintain relationships with others. The function and meaning of new forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC) is not always clear to users on the onset and must be negotiated by communities, institutions and individuals alike. This thesis examines the linguistic and rhetorical properties of the weblog, another relatively young genre of CMC, to determine its function in private and professional (business) communication. It approaches the question of what functions blogs realize for authors and readers and argues that corporate blogs, which, like blogs by private individuals, are a highly diverse in terms of their form, function and intended audience, essentially mimic key characteristics of private blogs in order to appear open, non-persuasive and personal, all essential qualities for companies that wish to make a positive impression on their constituents. Download free PDF/order: http://blog.ynada.com/368 </shameless self-promotion> All the best, Cornelius -- Dr. Cornelius Puschmann, M.A. Department for English Language and Linguistics Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf Building 23.11, Level 1, Room 21 Universitätsstrasse 1 40225 Düsseldorf Germany +49 211 81 15927 (office) Nachwuchsforschergruppe "Wissenschaft und Internet" / Junior Researchers Group "Science and the Internet" http://nfgwin.uni-duesseldorf.de