The Psychosemantic Realm of Social Media Warfare Affecting Public Diplomacy

Proceedings

article

Rus Shafinas Shafie¹ 

[1] Centre of Media and Information Warfare Studies, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA

关键词: psychosemantics;    psycholinguistics in social media warfare;    public diplomacy;    digital diplomacy;    semantic macrostructure theory;    theory of ideological square;    cyber warfare;   

DOI  :  10.3390/proceedings2022082097

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The psychosemantic realm of social media warfare is an emerging field that relates to psycholinguistics in warfare. The paucity of literature relating to the subject paved the interest of this study. Moreover, it aims to address fake news, misinformation, and disinformation, with the essence of understanding meaning-making used as a tactic to influence both digital society and public diplomacy. Therefore, the present study intends to explore the realm of psycholinguistics in social media warfare, focusing on how meaning is inferred and how it influences public diplomacy. The study amalgamates behaviorism and constructivism in understanding the essence of meaning-making. A sample is taken from a Facebook wall post of state actors representing the Malaysian government and the Malaysian opposition. The data are analyzed by applying the critical discourse analysis method. The analysis reveals that meaning inferences embedded in social media narratives are significantly determined by hard power and soft power, and the reproduction of ideology through discourse. The concept of power and discourse is consequential in influencing and affecting public diplomacy. Undoubtedly, it proves that by carefully using meaningful words, creating effective psychosemantics can influence perception and public diplomacy.

【 授权许可】

CC BY