A Discourse Interpretation of Digitally Mediated Texts as Transformation Tools among Selected Whatsapp Users

Abstract

The twenty-first century has witnessed social media discourse becoming part and parcel of our daily communication. Social media can therefore be described as a vibrant linguistic platform where various classes of people converge daily to communicate with one another on all issues bothering themselves personally and the macro societies in which they live. Apart from borderless chatting opportunities, WhatsApp users have the chance of posting their pictures in a photo-profile corner for their easy identity advertisement. In recent times, rather than posting personal pictures in their photo-profile corner, an inscription is displayed to create a relatively permanent message or impression, either confirming a principle or belief of the user or admonishing the individual’s contacts. The concern of this paper is to examine the relevance of selected texts displayed as profile pictures on WhatsApp in the quest for transformation of Africa as a society. Using critical theory framework, our paper shows that WhatsApp users deliberately make use of certain texts on their profile spaces to convey their ideologies. The paper concludes that WhatsApp is indeed a channel for free expression, and an opportunity for the spread of principles and ideologies which are capable of developing individuals as well as our society.