What Is Digital Communication? Developing a Conceptual Definition of the Term

Authors

  • Mohammed El-Astal

    Mass Communication and Public Relations Department, College of Communication and Media Technologies, Gulf  University, Sand 26489, Kingdom of Bahrain
  • Hala El-Youssef

    Department of English Language and Literature, College of Arts, University of Bahrain, Sakhir 32038, Kingdom of Bahrain

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i1.7766
Received: 15 November 2024 | Revised: 17 December 2024 | Accepted: 19 December 2024 | Published Online: 3 January 2025

Abstract

This inductive paper seeks to develop a conceptual definition of the term ‘digital communication,’ enriching the literature that lacks a definition. To that end, the authors collected twenty-five manifestations, or insufficient fragmented pieces of knowledge, from the literature, employing the theme-rheme concept to analyze the manifestations collected and (employing the same formula) to condense and synthesize the themes and rhemes found in a working conceptual definition of the term.  The ‘theme-rheme’ concept proposed for analysis and synthesis was utilized from Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL).  Based on the analyses of the manifestations collected, this paper defines digital communication as the process through which a source, using an interactive channel, sends a purposive, binarily programmed, greased, measurable, widely accessible, and retrievable message to a destination that has unlimited opportunity to provide feedback. The working definition developed here is expected to delineate the scope of digital communication and deepen the understanding of the term among theorists, practitioners, researchers, instructors, and students.  Ontologically, delineating the scope of digital communication clarifies what falls within it as a field of study and what lies outside. In addition, the definition paves the way for developing a model for digital communication (in which the message is socially and cross-culturally constructed) and courses for teaching it. 

 

Keywords:

Digital Communication Definition; Theme-Rheme; Social Constructionism; Cross-Cultural Constructionism; Language Learning; Ontology; Inductive Method

References

[1] Eadie, W.F., Goret, R., 2013. Theories and Models of Communication: Foundations and Heritage. In: Schulz, P.J., Cobley, P., (eds.). Handbooks of Communication Science, Vol. 1. De Gruyter Mouton: Berlin, Germany. pp. 17–38.

[2] Ihlen, Q., Bartlett, J.L., May, S., 2011. Corporate Social Responsibility and Communication. In: Ihlen, Ø., Bartlett, J.L., May, S., (eds.). The Handbook of Communication and Corporate Social Responsibility. Wiley-Blackwell: Chichester, UK. pp. 3–22.

[3] Caron, A.H., Caronia, L., 2007. Moving Cultures: Mobile Communication in Everyday Life. McGill-Queen's University Press: Montreal, QC, Canada. pp. 32–57.

[4] Gallager, R.G., 2008. Principles of Digital Communication. Cambridge University Press: New York, NY, USA. pp. 1–15.

[5] Neuman, W.R., 2016. The Digital Difference: Media Technology and the Theory of Communication Effects. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA, USA. pp. 1–19.

[6] El-Astal, M., 2023. What Is Curriculum? Building a Broader Understanding of the Term. Journal of Curriculum and Teaching. 12(6), 188–196. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5430/jct.v12n6p188

[7] Eggins, S., 2004. An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics, 2nd ed. Continuum: New York, NY, USA. pp. 1–22.

[8] Halliday, M.A.K., Matthiessen, C., 2004. An introduction to functional grammar, 3rd ed. Arnold: London, UK. pp. 64–105.

[9] Elo, S., Kyngäs, H., 2008. The Qualitative Content Analysis Process. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 62(1), 107–115. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2007.04569.x

[10] Halliday, M.A.K., 1985. An Introduction to Functional Grammar, 1st ed. Arnold: London, UK. pp. 37–67.

[11] Moor, J.H., 1997. Towards a Theory of Privacy in the Information Age. ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society. 27, 27–32.

[12] Friedman, T.L., 2005. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century. Farrar, Straus and Giroux: New York, NY, USA. pp: 185–199.

[13] Corniani, M., 2006. Digital Marketing Communication. Symphonya: Emerging Issues in Management. 2, 41–61. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4468/2006.2.04corniani

[14] Merisavo, M., Kajalo, S., Karjaluoto, H., et al., 2007. An Empirical Study of the Drivers of Consumer Acceptance of Mobile Advertising. Journal of Interactive Advertising. 7(2), 41–50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15252019.2007.10722130

[15] Salehi, M., Mirzaei, H., Aghaei, M., et al., 2012. Dissimilarity of E-Marketing vs Traditional Marketing. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences. 2(1), 510–515.

[16] Dahiya, R., Gayatri, 2018. A Research Paper on Digital Marketing Communication and Consumer Buying Decision Process: An Empirical Study in the Indian Passenger Car Market. Journal of Global Marketing. 31(2), 73–95. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08911762.2017.1365991

[17] Kaplan, A.M., Haenlein, M., 2010. Users of the World, Unite! The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons. 53(1), 59-68. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003

[18] Lipiäinen, H.S.M., Karjaluoto, H.K., Nevalainen, M., 2014. Digital Channels in the Internal Communication of a Multinational Corporation. Corporate Communications: An International Journal. 19(3), 275–286. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-07-2012-0050

[19] Quan-Haase, A., Zhang, R., Wellman, R., et al., 2014. Older Adults on Digital Media in a Networked Society: Enhancing and Updating Social Connections. In: Graham, M., Dutton, W.H. (eds.). Society and the Internet: How Networks of Information and Communication Are Changing Our Lives. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK. pp. 96–108.

[20] Dewdney, A., Ride, P., 2014. The Digital Media Handbook, 2nd ed. Routledge: London, UK. pp. 1–19.

[21] Taiminen, H.M., Karjaluoto, H., 2015. The Usage of Digital Marketing Channels in SMEs. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development. 22(4), 633–651. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JSBED-05-2013-0073

[22] Bateman, J.A., 2021. What Are Digital Media? Discourse, Context & Media. 41, 1–16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2021.100502

[23] Georgakopoulou, A., Spilioti, T., 2016. Introduction. In: Georgakopoulou, A., Spilioti, T. (eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Language and Digital Communication. Routledge: London, UK. pp. 1–16.

[24] Bala, M., Verma, D., 2018. A Critical Review of Digital Marketing. International Journal of Management, IT & Engineering. 8(10), 321–339.

[25] Kovaitė, K., Šūmakaris, P., Stankevičienė, J., 2020. Digital Communication Channels in Industry 4.0 Implementation: The Role of Internal Communication. Management: Journal of Contemporary Management Issues. 25(1), 171–191. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30924/mjcmi.25.1.10

[26] Ess, C., 2022. Digital Media Ethics, 3rd ed. Polity Press: Cambridge, UK. pp.15–40.

[27] Cho, M., Furey, L.D., Mohr, T., 2016. Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility on Social Media: Strategies, Stakeholders, and Public Engagement on Corporate Facebook. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly. 80(1), 52–69. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2329490616663708

[28] Jensen, K.B., 2021. Introduction: The State of Convergence in Media and Communication Research. In: Jensen, K.B. (ed.). Handbook of Media and Communication Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Methodologies, 3rd ed. Routledge: London, UK. pp. 1–22.

[29] Gamble, M., Gamble, T., 1989. Introducing Mass Communication, 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill: New York, NY, USA. pp. 1–16.

[30] Myers, G., 2010. The Discourse of Blogs and Wikis. Continuum: London, UK. pp. 15–27.

[31] Whiting, A., Williams, D., 2013. Why People Use Social Media: A Uses and Gratifications Approach. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal. 16(4), 362–369. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-06-2013-0041

[32] Tagg, C., 2015. Exploring Digital Communication: Language in Action. Routledge: London, UK. pp. 79–130.

[33] Zeng, S., 2018, English Language in the Digital Age: Agency, Technology, and Context. Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.: Singapore. pp. 45–72.

[34] McNulty, A., Lazarevic, B., 2012. Best Practices in Using Video Technology to Promote Second Language Acquisition. The Journal of Teaching English with Technology. 12(3), 49–61.

[35] Smart, G., 1997, An Ethnographic Study of Knowledge-Making in a Central Bank: The Interplay of Writing and Economic Modeling [Ph.D. Thesis]. McGill University: Montreal, QC, Canada. pp. 9–24.

Downloads

How to Cite

El-Astal, M., & El-Youssef, H. (2025). What Is Digital Communication? Developing a Conceptual Definition of the Term. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(1), 471–479. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i1.7766

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 1 (January 2025)

Article Type

Article

License

Copyright © 2025 Mohammed El-Astal, Hala El-Youssef

Creative Commons License

This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.