Analyzing Websites

Luc Massou is a professor in Information and Communication Sciences at Université de Lorraine, France, and a member of CREM.Patrick Mpondo-Dicka is a lecturer in Information and Communication Sciences at Université Toulouse Jean-Jaurès, France, and a member of LERASS.Nathalie Pinède is a professor in Information and Communication Sciences at Université Bordeaux Montaigne, France, and a member of MICA.

• Foreword xiiiSébastien ROUQUETTEIntroduction xviiLuc MASSOU, Patrick MPONDO-DICKA and Nathalie PINÈDEPart 1 Websites as a Socio-technical Device 1Chapter 1 Observing the Web through the Lens of Websites 3Camille ALLOING1.1 Introduction 31.2 The website as a space and an architecture 51.3 The pioneer Web (before 2000) 71.4 The citation Web (from 2000 to 2005) 121.5 The Web known as Web 2.0 (from 2005 to 2010) 151.6 The social Web (from 2010 to 2015) 191.7 An affective and artificial Web (2015 to the present) 231.8 Conclusion 241.9 References 26Chapter 2 Is the Web a Semiodiscursive Object? 29Christine BARATS and Julia BONACCORSI2.1 Introduction 292.2 How to do relevant data sets with Web data? The making of a complex object of research 312.2.1 Sociotechnical devices and the construction of the object 312.2.2 From the research question to the data sets: knowledge and documentation of the device 342.2.3 Notional tools for semiodiscursive approaches 382.3 Standing the test of time: surveys and methods 422.3.1 Tangled temporalities 422.3.2 Defining the right way to select and collect data sets 442.3.3 From the notion of corpus to the notion of digital corpus 462.4 Violence against data: issues of interpretation 492.4.1 Formatting of issues by research instrumentation 492.4.2 Limits and challenges of interpretation: taking the illusion of immediacy and standardization of meaning into account 512.5 Conclusion 522.6 References 53Chapter 3 Expertise from Websites: Pedagogical Perspectives in Information and Communication 57Luc MASSOU3.1 Introduction 573.2 What is the role of website expertise in information and communication? 583.2.1 Example of a 3-year educational program 593.2.2 From analysis to website expertise 623.3 What are the benefits of semio-rhetorical, critical and socio-technical approaches for the learner? 653.3.1 An "external" expertise to put results into perspective 663.3.2 Several points in common with our scientific analyses 673.4 Conclusion 703.5 Appendices 723.6 References 76Part 2 The Website as a Semiodiscursive Device 81Chapter 4 Semiotics of Digital Design: From Ethos to Ethics 83Nicole PIGNIER4.1 Introduction 834.2 Semiotics of webdesign: from 2004 to 2021 854.2.1 A realistic or hyper-realistic form of multimodal writing 854.2.2 A mythical or symbolic multimodal writing 874.2.3 A readable and redundant multimodal writing 884.2.4 A reality-removing and subversive multimodal writing 904.2.5 The semiotic functions of Web interfaces 914.3 Beyond its ethos, the ethical aim of digital design 924.3.1 Divergences between ethos and ethics 934.3.2 Websites in a tense relationship with other players in digital design 944.4 Interrogating the semiotic interrelations between the strata of digital design 954.4.1 The notions of prefiguration, configuration and figuration 954.4.2 Semiotic interrelationships between the strata 974.4.3 Digital design: from ethos to ethics 984.5 Conclusion 1014.6 References 103Chapter 5 Social Semiotic Approach of Press Websites: Genesis of a Method 105Alexandra SAEMMER and Nolwenn TRÉHONDART5.1 Introduction 1055.2 Epistemological and methodological issues 1075.2.1 Genesis of a method 1075.2.2 Foundational concepts 1095.2.3 Semiotic tools introduced in the field 1105.3 The first field: a critical decoding of interfaces 1125.3.1 Experimental protocol 1125.3.2 Spontaneous opinions and impressions from viewing BFM TV's website 1135.3.3 Identification of editorial units and first interpretations 1145.3.4 Debating and choosing hypotheses 1175.4 Second field: toward a social semiotic approach of websites 1185.5 Interpretative hypotheses and interpretative filters 1205.5.1 "BFM, the information supermarket", from the lens of an anti-capitalist viewpoint and professional habits 1205.5.2 The "sexist, right-wing BFM", through the prism of a feminist and intersectional perspective 1225.5.3 "BFM as a counter-power", through the lens of a complicit or critical adherence to the state media 1245.6 Conclusion 1255.7 Appendices 1275.8 References 128Chapter 6 Analyzing the Mobilization Against the LPR on Twitter: Theoretical Issues and Methodological Challenges 131Justine SIMON6.1 Introduction 1316.2 Multidimensional approach to digital social networks 1346.2.1 Shedding light on the notion of hypertextualized discourse 1346.2.2 Shared images and participatory culture 1346.2.3 Interdiscursivity, narrativity and argumentativity 1386.3 Ethical questions and methodological challenges 1406.3.1 Ethical concerns 1406.3.2 Methodological challenges 1436.4 Presentation of the six sub-corpora 1476.4.1 Sub-corpus 1: the narrating Twitter user 1486.4.2 Sub-corpus 2: the narrator-character Twitter user 1496.4.3 Sub-corpus 3: calls to action 1526.4.4 Sub-corpus 4: sharing visual gags and interactive mini-stories 1526.4.5 Sub-corpus 5: sharing of inter-iconic images and double narratives 1546.4.6 Sub-corpus 6: oppositions of discourse/counter-discourse 1576.5 Outlook and analytical perspectives 1586.6 Conclusion 1596.7 References 161Chapter 7 Metaphor and Analysis of Websites: Transformations of a Media Object 167Pergia GKOUSKOU7.1 Introduction 1677.2 Uses of metaphors for analyzing websites and digital communications 1687.2.1 The "website" object: between documents, media and devices 1687.2.2 The place of metaphor in the analysis of the "website" object 1727.2.3 Metaphor and intermediality 1737.2.4 Metaphors, remediatization and strategies of digital communications 1757.3 Websites that visualize open data: making sense using the metaphor as inquiry 1787.3.1 Hypermedia maps in data visualization 1797.3.2 The metaphor of the mosaic in data visualization 1827.3.3 Metaphor as a framework for action: involvement of the Internet user and a sense of transparency 1837.4 Conclusion 1867.5 References 187Part 3 The Website as a Communication Device 191Chapter 8 Thematic Analysis of Hyperlinks: A Taxonomic Approach 193Nathalie PINÈDE8.1 Introduction 1938.2 Analytical framework for an info-communicational reading of websites 1948.3 The interest of a taxonomic reading grid for websites 1998.4 Presentation of the methodological approach 2028.4.1 Corpus of university websites 2038.4.2 A semiodiscursive and taxonomic analysis of web pages 2048.5 Primary results 2068.5.1 Analysis of the main menus of the home pages 2068.5.2 Generic approach to the HLU corpus 2108.5.3 Informational profiles from the taxonomy of the HLUs 2138.5.4 A closer look at a class: "User profiles" 2198.6 Conclusion 2218.7 Appendices 2238.8 References 227Chapter 9 The Documediality of Cross-border Organizations 231Marie-Hélène HERMAND9.1 Introduction 2319.2 Theoretical and methodological anchoring in semiotics applied to the media 2339.3 First step: create a reading of three cross-border organizational models through the lens of documentality 2359.3.1 Within the European Union (EU): the documentality of the Euroregions-fluids 2359.3.2 On the borders of the EU: the documentality of the Euroregion buffers 2379.3.3 In Southern Africa: the documentality of ecoregions 2389.4 Step two: build a corpus of websites from the three cross-border organizational models considered 2399.4.1 The website of the Tyrol Alto Adige Trentino Euroregion 2399.4.2 The website of the Danube-Cris-Mures-Tisa Euroregion 2409.4.3 The website of Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area 2439.5 Stage three: identify the memory processes to unravel the skein of cross-border narratives presented to audiences 2449.5.1 Call for a shared memory: anchoring within a territory-symbol 2449.5.2 Call for a shared history: anchoring within a legitimate quest 2489.5.3 The call for a shared heritage: an anchoring in shared living 2509.6 Step four: qualitatively comparing the results 2559.7 Conclusion 2599.8 References 261Chapter 10 "Tell Us Your Data", Between Euphemization, Standardization, and Digital Poetics 265Camille RONDOT10.1 Introduction 26510.2 Epistemological and methodological issues 26810.2.1 Performance, notoriety and visibility: a disruptive discourse 26810.2.2 Empowered skills: a discourse on the method as a foundational basis 27210.2.3 From social data to consumer knowledge: information rhetoric 27510.3 A poetics of the visible and the audible 27610.3.1 Revealing the visible and making ordinary conversations speak 27610.3.2 Revealing what is visible through surveillance: between euphemized discourse and the desire to create a panopticon 27910.4 Conclusion 28310.5 References 285List of Authors 287Index 289