Multimodal text as a means of political identification: an analysis of the Russian blogosphere

Abstract

This article explores the phenomenon of online political activism, specifically political blogging, from the perspective of the author's concept of prosumer activity. It focuses on the multimodal texts of websites that convey political messages using a range of semiotic codes. The study aims to demonstrate how the political identity of the addresser is encoded and expressed in the information product. The analysis results in a typology of multimodal texts, classified into three types based on their political identity and intended purpose. The first type comprises blogs that have a clear ideological basis that marks the political identity of the producer, with a ‘concentrated’ multimodal text. The second type includes blogs that do not reflect the author's political identity, with an ‘amorphous’ multimodal text intended for political consumption and entertainment. The third type encompasses blogs that transmit ‘disperse’ multimodal text, which presents an ideological basis but is focused on political consumption rather than identity manifestation in communication and action. The proposed typology is confirmed through a comparative study of politically oriented blogs and those that address political topics occasionally. The study also identifies mechanisms that increase the communicative potential and persuasive power of the ideological and semantic content, using semiotic and discourse analysis.