10. The Discourse Community of Electronic Dance Music Through the Example of the TB-303 Owners Club

The aim of this chapter is to introduce the model of the discourse community of electronic dance music using a case study of the Facebook group TB-303 Owners Club. This model is based on the discourse community theories of John M. Swales and the analytical system of computer-mediated discourse analysis put forward by Susan C. Herring. The methodology presented in this study is new in research on electronic dance music cultures. It can help us to understand the fine details about online community building and social identity construction via language use. Here, discourse is seen as language in use and as a tool for expressing identity. Therefore, different examples are examined of how identity construction works through discourse and how discourse influences these mechanisms. Furthermore, the results of this study add up-to-date information to the research on computer-mediated communication, with a special focus on the communication processes of social media.