Teknisten dokumenttien rooli internetin käyttäjäkeskusteluissa

Authors

• Eveliina Salmela Vaasan yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.70484/vakki.149250

Keywords:

käyttöohjeet, tekninen viestintä, verkkoyhteisöt, verkkokeskustelu, vertaisapu

Abstract

The users of technical communication have become active agents, which is realized for example in their ways of conveying and processing technical information in online communities. In order to achieve different kinds of goals, users utilize the information provided by technical documents, experts and peer support searched via online communities. This article scrutinizes how technical documents, such as user and service manuals and product catalogs are shown on online user discussions. The data consists of 200 discussion threads related to heat pumps from two different Finnish discussion boards, Lampopumput.info (heatpumps.info) and Suomi24.fi (Finland24.fi). Technical documents were brought to the discussions using hyperlinks, attached files, quotes and references. In the discussion, they functioned as contextual information, justification, instruction or information. Using technical documents in the message threads was more common in Lampopumput.info, which is specialized in heat pumps and requires registration from the writers, than in Suomi24.fi, which is a general discussion board and allows anonymous participation. In the both discussion boards, the most common function of using technical documents in the messages was justification. Sharing own experiences and expressing subjective views are more common on the open and general discussion board, so the motivation or need to use technical documents may be lower than on the controlled and specialized discussion board, where conveying objective information and discussions concerning the installation and use of are more common.