From remote control to tweets

Abstract

Abstract This study examined the role Twitter reactions play in (re)shaping the quality criteria in TV interpreting (TVI) during the Oscars ceremony in Turkey, extending over a ten-year period. The secondary goal of this study was to shed light on the extent to which tweets affected the interpreting practice, recruitment of interpreters, and the discourse about TVI in general. The thematic analysis of the tweets showed that the viewers generally criticized interpreters based on their delivery, use of voice, and word choices. Complementary interviews conducted with TV interpreters and one executive revealed that tweets were instrumentalized by executives and recruiters both in real time and during the recruitment process; in this way they became a quality instrument with which to evaluate TV interpreters’ performance. The findings are discussed in the light of the literature on TVI and are used to advance both practical and theoretical implications for the practice of TVI.