A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to share my latest work on the language of trust at .@HKPolyUENGL. The study's in press with Cambridge Elements in Forensic Linguistics and we're releasing a new 400k corpus of Enron trader phone calls. Watch this space!.

p.s.: the production team (not us - I promise!) swapped the captions for figures 1 and 2 🥴.

It was super fun to work on this paper with @samanthaford473. Incidentally, this paper has been in the works for almost 10 years - I first presented it at @RaAMconf back in 2016! It’s not procrastination, it’s letting the ideas *marinate* 😅.

Our paper connects with several areas of research in discourse studies and cognitive linguistics, including topics like "metaphor resistance", visual and multimodal metaphor, creativity, multimodal argumentation, blaming and protest discourses.

With tools like image editing and generative AI, digital activism is rapidly evolving. Subverting visual and verbal texts is now more accessible than ever, offering new creative ways to expose injustice and advocate for change.

Our study goes beyond metaphors, examining how metonymy, irony, hyperbole, and more can be wielded as tools for resistance. These tropes, combined with visuals, create nuanced counterarguments that resonate emotionally.

Our typology can be used to analyze other forms of figurative subversion, including political cartoons, street art (e.g. Banksy), contemporary conceptual art, memes, protest signs at political rallies, mockumentaries, and mash-up video clips circulated on social media.

We identify four key figurative subversion strategies, which can be used individually or in combination to build a persuasive visual/multimodal argument. Figurative extension.Figurative layering.Figurative replacement.Verbal reframing

We look at Greenpeace's 2010 "Behind the Logo" campaign, where activists cleverly reworked BP’s logo to call out its "green" branding, as a case study on how people can use figurative and visual strategies to subvert corporate messaging.

What happens when activists creatively reimagine corporate logos to resist branding narratives? . Our new paper explores the powerful multimodal practice of "figurative subversion" and its role in challenging corporate messages. Read it here:

RT @CCR_UoB: At #CCRSS25, @MatteoFuoli will show you how to use the UAM Corpus Tool for manual annotation and analysis. Get hands-on practi….

Can we infer deceptive intent from fact-checker labels? And what if what fact-checkers consider “false” today turns out to be “true” tomorrow?. We explore these and other methodological questions in our new paper with @BashayerBaissa & @JWGrieve: .

Next Monday I’ll be giving a talk on my latest research on the linguistics of trust and manipulation as part of @HKPolyUENGL’s seminar series. The talk will be on Zoom and open to all. If you’re interested, you can sign up via the link below!.

Our position paper on the sociolinguistic foundations of language modeling is out now in Frontiers in AI!. We argue that sociolinguistics holds the key to understanding and improving large language models.

The amount of garbage "viral" content on here + the relentless unsolicited self-promotional posts about Elon Musk have become unbearable, so like many others I'm moving to the other app!. See you there! 👋😌

RT @ObserveIR: Trending in #Communication:. 1) The news values of fake news. 2) Journalists’ Postpandemic Use of Pr….

Our study offers valuable insights for media literacy efforts, fact-checkers, and policymakers working to address the problem of fake news.

Understanding these rhetorical and ideological underpinnings is crucial for developing effective counter-strategies to combat the spread of misinformation online.

Fake news writers exploit these values to undermine established narratives and promote alternative explanations for complex issues like climate change, vaccination, and COVID-19.

We uncovered four "novel" news values distinctive to fake news: subversiveness, causality, religiosity, and historicity. These form a powerful toolkit for crafting compelling counter-mainstream narratives.