This paper examines the distributional patterns of ‘swearing’ expressions produced in cyberspace in response to NAVER internet news articles. A range of contextual features associated with the use of swearing expressions are identified in terms of their tendency to be formulated as response cries produced as part of affectively-loaded assessments. Serving as a resource for managing face through footing shift, the ways in which swearing expressions are formulated and deployed embody the writer's orientation to treating the cyberspace where they are situated as a form of ‘social situation’ where at least some form of face/impression management is required. The predominant use of their variant forms is analyzed not simply as an attempt to outsmart the institutional attempt at controlling their use but as a collusive act through which the fellow participants are co-implicated in a collective word play organized as a cyberspace-specific form of language game. The tendency of the swearing expressions to cluster and resonate with each other suggests that swearing in cyberspace should be treated not simply as an unconstrained individualized act but as an act embedded in interactively-organized ‘word play’ activities that are obliquely, but crucially, geared to enhancing consensual grounds for shared affective stance among the members of the cyber-community of practice.

본 연구는 한국 언론 보도에 나타난 게임 관련 담론 분석을 통해 게임이라는 미디어에 대한 우리 사회의 인식과 지형도를 가늠하고자 하는 것이다. 미디어는 현실을 거울처럼 단순히 반영 하는 것이 아니라 특정한 방식으로 재현한다. 한국의 언론은 게임의 의미를 어떻게 구성하여 재현하고 있는가? 본 연구는 박근혜 정부 4년 동안 조선, 중앙, 동아, 경향, 한겨레 등 5대 일간 지의 게임 관련 기사 479건에 나타난 게임 담론의 특성을 분석하였다. 연구 결과 단일 이슈로 는 게임 중독 프레임, 중독 폐해 프레임, <포켓몬고>를 비롯한 AR게임 프레임이 상당한 비중 을 차지하고 있었으며, 게임의 본질인 놀이 문화와 관련된 담론은 불과 3.8%에 불과함을 확인 할 수 있었다.