Gilbert Giner

Discourse Community

The purpose of this paper is to discuss what a discourse community is, and give examples
of discourse comminutes I belong to. A discourse community is a group of like-minded
individuals who operate together to achieve a common goal. These individuals often operate
along certain guidelines set forth by the leaders of the community. There are often requirements
that must be met by individuals who wish to join a particular community. Discourse communities
often utilize terms that pertain to the main focus of the community itself. For example, a
discourse community centered on technology might use terminologies such as C++ and terabyte,
which refer to something specific in the field of technology, specifically computers. An outsider
might not understand these terminologies, but a true member of the community would
understand the meaning of these words perfectly.
One example of a discourse community is a group of friends. The individuals of this
group associate themselves with one another because they share common interests and enjoy
each others company. The community might also create or adopt terms to refer to certain things.
These friends would have ground rules for what is permitted to take place within the group. For
example, the group may not tolerate racial slurs to be made by other members. In my group of
friends, we can speak about many things without restriction, as we do so in a humorous manner.
One term we have recently adopted is weeaboo, which refers to a non-Japanese person who
essentially denounces their own culture and calls themselves Japanese, and
attempts to learn Japanese from the anime they watch. Anyone can join our group
so long as their personality is tolerable and they are not easily offended, or act
offended because they think they should be.

Gilbert Giner

Another discourse community I belong to is Cerberus PMC. Cerberus PMC is a gaming

community. The main goal of Cerberus is to guide our members and allies to victory in
operations throughout the galaxy of Star Trek Online. The guidelines that members must follow
are as follows. Members of Cerberus must demonstrate themselves professionally while
representing the organization. Members of Cerberus must use proper English and avoid using
swears while addressing other members of the organization outside of private communication
lines. While speaking in a private communication, members may speak freely, except under the
condition that they are addressing, or are in the presence of, a senior officer. Terminologies used
by Cerberus are: RTB, jump, and skinhead, a derogatory term used among lower ranking
members to describe a certain species. Membership to Cerberus is reserved to human units only.
Another discourse community I belong to is OM. This is another online gaming
organization, which is based on the online rendition of BattleTechs MechWarrior. The main goal
of OM is to provide the Clans with able-bodied warriors. The second goal of OM is to provide
players with a community of like-minded individuals that they can operate with online and
communicate with on similar interests. Terminologies used by the unit are IS (Inner-Sphere),
Clan, ECM, trueborn, freebirth, and servus. OM is not a typical online group; the unit is run by
serious individuals who aim to maintain a high level of professionalism. As such, regulations for
the unit can best be described as militant. The guidelines for members of OM are as follows.
Members must address each other respectfully, derogatory and vulgar remarks are not tolerated.
Members must display themselves as respectful individuals whenever they are associating
themselves with OM. During operations, all members must speak accordingly to all members of
the operation, with respect to rank and the chain of command. Proper English is to be used
during these times, and the use of contractions is frowned upon. Excessive swearing is to be

Gilbert Giner

avoided during operations as well. When speaking to a senior officer in an official manner, lower
ranking members must do so with respect and address them as either sir, or by their official rank.
Membership to the unit is reserved for members of Clan Ghost Bear.
Yet another discourse community I belong to is OM3N. The goals of this community are
simply to provide an environment where members can make friends with like-minded
individuals, and to have fun. The only guidelines for this group are that members may not
represent OM3N in a negative manner, nor act negatively with other members. Terminologies
used in this group are blueberry, TR, and ZOE. The only requirements for membership is that
members must be competent, post-pubescent individuals. There is little room for children in
matters covering serious topics, especially those who cannot comprehend the topics at hand, or
take them seriously.
This concludes my discussion of discourse communities.