13 Metapragmatics of mode-switching: Young people’s awareness of multimodal meaning making in digital interaction

The medium is accountable: Metacommunication and media ideologies about voice messages in WhatsApp chats

“…At the same time, users' metacommunication reveals their beliefs about the nature of this mediated mode of interaction, that is, their media ideologies. First, as already observed in previous research, VMs are considered to be better suited for certain actions, such as long explanations and narrations or for 'vocal performances' (see Busch and Sindoni, 2022;König and Hector, 2017). Second, on a more general level, we see that by accounting for using a VM, users frame their mode choice as deliberate, not as a practice determined solely by the application's technical affordances, individual preferences, or external factors.…”

“…This study follows this line of research by analysing accounts and other forms of metacommunication on the use of VMs in different datasets of authentic WhatsApp chats. Contrary to previous studies focussing on just one modality (Busch and Sindoni, 2022, on the text surrounding VMs; König and Hector, 2017, only on VMs) or relying on ‘indirect’ data only (interviews by Gershon, 2010, focus groups by Fernández-Ardèvol et al, 2022, media discourse by Thurlow, 2017), this study examines in situ discourse both in text and voice messages. The analysis focuses on how users interpret and negotiate the modal opportunities afforded by mobile messaging platforms in metacommunicative comments, and the switch from one mode to another.…”

“…For instance, in examining college students’ breakup stories, Gershon (2010: 391) observed that interviewees reflected on which medium indexed more intimacy or was perceived as more formal, and how they switched from one medium to another upon ending their relationship. As for WhatsApp, in one of the case studies analysed by Busch and Sindoni (2022: 251), a chat between two German teenagers in which one user explicitly asks the other to record a VM, the switch to voice is treated as more appropriate for some activities, such as explanations. Accounts thus prove to be an insightful key to users’ conception of this new way of mediated aural communication.…”

“…Juan aligns with her evaluation (#04) and thus gives Ana a ‘ticket’ to say more about it. Such metacommunicative announcements frame VMs as a time-consuming activity to carry out when the conditions allow for it, particularly if extended explanations or narrations are concerned (Busch and Sindoni, 2022; König, 2019).…”