Professional groups on social networking sites: the case of arbitration professionals

The chapter analyses arbitration discussion groups on Facebook and LinkedIn, two of the most popular social network sites (SNSs) among professionals, institutions and companies. The study sets out to provide a systematisation of these discussion groups in terms of language use and discursive resources so that the construction of users’ online identity can be investigated. The underlying concept and the architecture of both Facebook and LinkedIn play a significant role as they can affect professionals’ interaction; that is why possible variations regarding the textual and discursive layout are treated as a function of the specific features of each SNS. Findings suggest that discussion groups on both platforms can be considered as virtual communities of practice but, while the online identity constructed by LinkedIn users is mainly professional, on Facebook the traditional borders between public and private are more blurred, and the professional image of each user observable within the context of the arbitration group is only one element of a multifaceted construct delineated on the basis of other, non-professional constituents.