Social Semiotics

         Social semiotics is a highly complex subject in the field of semiotics. To put it much too simply, it is the study of meanings of many of our small social practices both online and in person. For example, this could be as broad as studying why a certain text has been popular; to as niche a subject as, why do people pay more attention to signs when they are written in a particular font. All in all, it is essentially asking the question of "why/how are we affected by the way something is written/designed". As you might be able to assume it is a very intricate subject that dives deep into many separate subjects. Now, this particular field was discovered by Michael Halliday, who was a highly respected British Linguist. He coined the term "Social Semiotics", but as with all things, it would develop further as time went on. The reason this study is important is due to its roots in both linguistics/communication and what can only be described as the human psyche. Knowing why and how we change our opinions based on a change as small as font size is highly useful to people, as well as numerous industries. Overall, social semiotics is a looking glass into how we are affected by specific changes.

        There are rules associated with Social Semiotics, but it might be better to call them values, as they often change depending on what the objective of the user is. For example, in the paper titled "Exploring Reading in Social Semiotics: Theory and Methods" written by Jake Bezemer and Kate Cowan, they explore some "premises" (which all in all are rules/guidelines) regarding sign making. It is important to note that 'sign making' isn't necessarily making street signs, but rather it can be anything from constructing a social media post, to making a slideshow for school. Regardless, in this article they describe four premises of sign making, two of which dictate how signs are typically rooted in social norms that have been developed over many years. Along with how people who create these 'signs' are not putting the same effort in each level of development, as with some audiences you do not need as much effort to get the point across (as with a street sign, where you only need to state a simple set of info). As for the other two premises, they state "sign makers build and recognize configurations of and relations between different forms: they create semiotic formations. For example, readers of a textbook make connections between (selections of) graphic elements that are arranged on a spread: orthographic elements, diagrammatic elements, photographic elements, and so on" (Bezemer and Cowan, 2020). This describes that the alignment of images/information can produce different connections in the reader. As in a reader is unlikely to connect visuals to the graphic if it is presented well before the text associated with it is shown. They also state "sign making is always particular to a sign maker and a situation. That means that even if a social or cultural group can draw on a long history of social interaction and strongly developed shared understandings, their meaning making is never entirely predictable" (Bezemer and Cowan, 2020). This quote simply states that the point of a 'sign' may not come across as the makers intended it to, due to the fact that everyone has their own set of opinions and social norms. This would look like a reader not understanding what a post is referencing, despite it being on their homepage. The makers of a post cannot determine the history of the readers/consumers, and therefore can never fully plan on the correct message coming across. So how does that affect how we consume information based on how an image/graphic is aligned. This is all based on the message that is being presented. When an image is directly on top of the page, the reader assumes that it is important to the rest of the page, whereas when it appears at the bottom in may only provide supporting evidence to the information provided. This is shared when an image appears to the left or right of text, a reader might assume that it is purely useful in the context of the paragraph. For example, attaching a graph to the right or left of a paragraph would seem like added context to the reading. All in all, we can see that this is a highly thought out and complex idea that requires a lot of background.

        Finally, i'd like to examine examples of social semiotics in the real world. The first image (seen below) is a picture of a textbook. As we can see, the major graphic is located on the bottom left of the page. If you read through the page you can see that the graph is a pie-chart of Earths atmospheric gases, which provides visual context about the passage above it. But why is the image positioned on the bottom right of the page? It is positioned that way due to it providing context, and not being the actual material you are learning from. If it instead was an intricate diagram of the layers of Earths atmosphere that the text would draw information from regularly, it might be positioned at the top of the page. Along with this, it is also likely positioned on the right so you look at before you continue onto the last paragraph, which speaks about a more niche part of the makeup of Earths atmospheric gasses. 

The second image I would like to examine a social media post. The post attached (seen below) is a tweet from former United States President Barack Obama. This particular post was released after he was re-elected for a second term. The post is simple, with one sentence stating "Four more years." and a picture of him and his wife hugging. The picture is located at the bottom of the post, taking up the entire bottom half of the photo. This is because it is not directly stating any information, instead it is insinuating the emotions behind his statement of "Four more years.". It is showing that this is exciting information that they are happy about, which is seen since they are embracing and smiling. As for the text, it presents a simple fact that readers need to know, that he was re-elected as president. With this tweet he is conveying excitement and pride about being elected to a second term.

        As we have seen, social semiotics is a highly complex field of study, but with this, it is extremely important to understand. Everyone alive today has been affected by social semiotics in one way or another. Even outside of online communication it affects each of us in both small and great ways. Overall, we need to understand social semiotics to understand how to present information.

Works Cited

Be      Bezemer, Jeff, and Kate Cowan. “Exploring Reading in Social Semiotics: Theory and Methods.” Education 3-13, vol. 49, no. 1, 27 Sept. 2020, pp. 107–118, https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2020.1824706.