Interactions on Facebook and Twitter: A Communicative Action Perspective

Abstract

The study examines interactions on Facebook and Twitter from a communicative action perspective. The objectives of this study are to: identify the nature of action(s) by interlocutors on Facebook and Twitter and examine the world(s) portrayed by these interlocutors. The study adopts Habermas’ theory of communicative action to study the nature of actions and the three-world concept that exist among users of Facebook and Twitter. Insights from interpersonal pragmatics and politeness were also found useful in the analysis of data. A total number of 275 messages were used comprising five posts from Facebook with randomly selected 165 comments and three tweets with randomly selected 102 comments. The research observes that most participants on Facebook and Twitter acted or commented strategically in the sense that the stance they took were motivated by reasons and facts and not merely opinions or emotions. The findings also reveal that many interactants showed that they operate in the objective world by abiding by the social norms and facts.