ABSTRACT
Communities of discourse are the most difficult to pin down as a distinct category. This chapter's primary focus is communication itself. Through the members' discussions with one another, the interests that they share can sometimes be forged into an identity that distinguishes the group, but the group remains primarily anchored as a community on sharing their thoughts with each other. The stories of Rich Taylor's "Sore-Loserman" and Mike Collins's "Spaghetti Ballot," illustrate a particular kind of community of discourse, which is harder to see at first glance: a community created by humor. The story of Zack Exley is another interesting example of a community of discourse built upon humor. Zack Exley believes humor is important and that the independent small-time parodists played a vital part in the political discourse. Exley saw a shortcoming in how his own site evolved as a Bush parody.
