THE ROLE OF MULTIMODAL AFFORDANCES IN SHAPING DIGITAL MEDIA DISCOURSE
Keywords:
Multimodality; Multimodal affordances; Digital media discourse; Social media; User engagement; Meaning-making; Interactivity; Semiotic modes; Computer-mediated communication.Abstract
The current study explores the impact of the availability of various forms of multimodal affordances in the production of discourse within digital media. Within the framework of multimodal discourse analysis and affordance theory, a qualitative methodology was employed to analyze how multimodal elements are utilized by participants within prominent social media websites. The study shows that digital communication is, indeed, characterized by the inherent multimodality that is shaped by the combination of several semiotic elements. Also, it demonstrates that social media affordances, including the ability to like, share and comment on the posts as well as incorporating visual or audio elements into communication, are simultaneously enablers and constraints for the discursive processes taking place within these platforms. Finally, this work emphasizes the participatory nature of digital discourse in which the interaction between participants leads to the co-construction of meanings. Overall, this project offers an insight into how multimodal affordances influence discourse in digital media.
References
Nancy Baym, N. K. (2015). Personal connections in the digital age (2nd ed.). Polity.
Jan Blommaert, J. (2020). Durkheim and the internet: On sociolinguistics and the sociological imagination. Bloomsbury.
danah boyd, d. (2014). It’s complicated: The social lives of networked teens. Yale University Press.
Norman Fairclough, N. (2013). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Terry Flew, T. (2021). Understanding global media (3rd ed.). Palgrave.
James J. Gibson, J. J. (1979). The ecological approach to visual perception. Houghton Mifflin.
Susan Herring, S. C. (2007). A faceted classification scheme for computer-mediated discourse. Language@Internet, 4.
Henry Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. NYU Press.
Carey Jewitt, C. (2009). The Routledge handbook of multimodal analysis. Routledge.
Carey Jewitt, C., Bezemer, J., & O’Halloran, K. (2016). Introducing multimodality. Routledge.
Andreas Kaplan, A. M., & Michael Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68.
Gunther Kress, G. (2010). Multimodality: A social semiotic approach to contemporary communication. Routledge.
Gunther Kress, G., & Theo van Leeuwen, T. (2001). Multimodal discourse: The modes and media of contemporary communication. Arnold.
Lev Manovich, L. (2001). The language of new media. MIT Press.
Alice Marwick, A. E., & danah boyd, d. (2011). To see and be seen: Celebrity practice on Twitter. Convergence, 17(2), 139–158.
Donald Norman, D. A. (1988). The design of everyday things. Basic Books.
Kay L. O’Halloran, K. L. (2004). Multimodal discourse analysis: Systemic-functional perspectives. Continuum.
Zizi Papacharissi, Z. (2015). Affective publics: Sentiment, technology, and politics. Oxford University Press.
Theo van Leeuwen, T. (2005). Introducing social semiotics. Routledge.
Shoshana Zuboff, S. (2019). The age of surveillance capitalism. PublicAffairs.
Downloads
Published
Versions
- 2026-04-11 (2)
- 2023-07-15 (1)
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
