Looking Beyond Being a Hero: A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Instagram Motivational Posts

An image and the combination of visual and textual information is a great way to exchange and send different ranges of messages. In the era of technology and global communication in which different people from different parts of the world can communicate and share their moment with each other through social media platforms (e.g., Instagram), some people use it for different activities and aims (e.g., motivational purposes). To convey their message effectively, they utilize several techniques to enhance their influence. The current study aimed at evaluating different Instagram Motivational Posts to observe how well they are designed to convey their message and influence (i.e., motivate) their target audience. This study will employ Kress and Van Leeuwen s model (2006) of visual grammar for multimodal texts as well as Halliday’s (1985) transitivity system verbal analysis of multimodal resources applied to such posts. A total number of 150 Instagram Motivational posts will be extracted randomly and the observed instances will be categorized accordingly in a tabular format for the data analysis stage. The frequency and representational, interactive, and compositional modes and their sub-categories will be determined at the visual discourse level. Additionally, the frequency and interaction of the transitivity system s major types (i.e., material, mental, and relational) and the minor types (behavioural, verbal, and existential) will be set at the verbal discourse level.