ABSTRACT
The first practical application of the ICON annotation scheme centers on description. It can be used as a tool for gathering information about a multimodal data corpus and synthesizing its main features. Even though we are working at the descriptive level here, ICON's results are still quite complex. ICON shares both of the models' focus on meaning creation as a process closely related to shared social conventions, and it is also a useful tool for uncovering such principles as they evolve online. This chapter explores descriptive application shares in the spirit of 'meaning as use' and presents a hands-on application of a fluid annotation scheme that matches the World Wide Web's constantly evolving means of expression. The examples of nucleus-satellite consociation all come from webpages where the satellites are specifically integrated into the main text, which points towards semantic coherence as a value and a goal of political communication online.
