With different words: The arguments that can empower an e-minority

Crossing two different research fields, the socio-psychological and the linguistic one, the present work aims at exploring what means to be part of a minority group built through a social media. In particular it will deepen the argumentations used by its followers before and after a very critical phase, and mostly if their discourses entail positive effects in terms of empowerment. The main hypothesis of this study is that the empowerment process of a minority, seen as a form of re-appropriation of individual or collective efficacy, can be constructed by means of the quality of discussion and then through its arguments. The case is represented by “Roars”, an active Facebook group of Italian researchers born after a very criticized reform of University. The linguistic analysis of Roars's group aims to understand their discursive and argumentative processes, and to state if they can develop some forms of empowerment. The results show how Roars change their rhetorical moves passing from presumptive and biased to “normative” argumentations, thus improving the quality of discussions and also their level of empowerment.