The Role of Black Linguistic Practices in the Transformation of Digital Space:
An Examination Of Wendy's Social Media Strategy

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract: Previous scholarship has identified African American Language (AAL) as a historically stigmatized language and Black technological activity as an insufficiently researched area of study. This thesis examines both subjects, particularly through the case study of Wendy’s, a fast food restaurant, and their 2017-2018 social media marketing strategy. I argue that the combined technological activity and use of AAL by Black digital users informed Wendy’s social media marketing strategy and partially attributed to their success. I support my argument through the qualitative coding of Wendy’s most viral tweets, in which I found that Wendy’s used AAL, and Black cultural signifiers more broadly, in almost one out of every five tweets. Ultimately, I assert that the techno-linguistic activity of Black people has impacted the formation of mainstream digital culture and how users, such as Wendy’s, navigate it.

Type of resource	text
Date created	May 28, 2021

Author	Anderson, Isis
Degree granting institution	Stanford University, Department of Science, Technology and Society
Primary advisor	Banks, Adam
Advisor	Sato, Kyoko
Collector	Undergraduate Honors Theses, Science, Technology, and Society

Subject	African American Language
Subject	African American Vernacular English
Subject	Black discourse practices
Subject	Black technological activity
Subject	Black Twitter
Subject	brands
Subject	advertising
Subject	cool
Subject	authenticity
Subject	sass
Subject	hip hop
Subject	memes
Subject	digital culture
Subject	Science Technology & Society
Subject	Stanford University
Subject	STS
Genre	Thesis

Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/tp415vw0413

Use and reproduction: User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (CC BY).

Preferred Citation: Anderson, I. (2021). The role of Black linguistic practices in the transformation of digital space: An examination of Wendy's social media strategy. Unpublished Honors Thesis. Stanford University, Stanford CA. https://purl.stanford.edu/tp415vw0413

Stanford University, Program in Science, Technology and Society, Honors Theses

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