Chat and conversation: a case of transmedial stability?

The rise of the new digital medium raises the question to what extent the old genres or text types exist across medial boundaries. While it is clear that there are new genres in Internet-based communication like MUDS or newsgroups, it is less clear if there is continuity between traditional spoken and written genres. This article explores the question for what is arguably the most basic of all genres, spoken conversation and the closest possible candidate for its digital match, the chat. The article looks at the degree to which extent pragmatic, social, and discourse properties typical of oral conversation are present or not in chat. It discusses the way the specific shape of these dimensions is explained by the physical and technical circumstances, and the co-presence conditions following from them, of the Internet chat. In particular, it looks at parameters like turn-taking, the notion of speakerhood, the role of silence, as well as nascent norms in these areas. The article argues that although it is heuristically helpful to calibrate the chat properties against spoken and written language, ultimately the medium and its genres must be defined in their own right.