Antonio Reyes, professor of Spanish at Washington and Lee University, has released a new book titled “Understanding the Language of Virtual Interaction,” that was officially released to the public on Aug. 27.
Printed by Cambridge University Press and co-authored by Andrew S. Ross of the University of Canberra (Australia), the book examines how digital communication transforms human interaction, knowledge circulation and epistemological authority.
It traces the rise of participatory culture in Web 2.0, where user-generated content challenges traditional expertise and reshapes credibility. Within virtual communities, participants construct identity, negotiate legitimacy and use personal experience and digital presence to establish authority, while artificial intelligence increasingly mediates representation and discourse.
Reyes’ book also explores how social media reconfigures the public sphere by broadening civic participation and amplifying underrepresented voices, while fostering alternative narratives and conspiracy theories that erode institutional knowledge on issues such as vaccines, climate change and political events. The book concludes by addressing the legal and ethical dilemmas of virtual spaces, calling for new frameworks of accountability to protect users and uphold democratic values in an evolving digital landscape.
This is Reyes’ second book, joining “Voice in Political Discourse: Castro, Chavez, Bush and their Strategic Use of Language,” published by Bloomsbury Press in 2011. He has also authored a variety of book chapters and published a number of peer-reviewed papers in leading academic journals.
Reyes has been a member of the W&L faculty since 2011.
