My digital landscape
Mapping my semiotics landscape
Every platform I use shapes communication differently.
Explore my digital world and discover what one interaction i had on Instagram reveals about how we really communicate across cultures online.
The platforms I use
My digital world
TikTok
Public, algorithmic, global
Modes
Video, Sound, Gesture, Text, Music. Emoji
My Practices
I post trends, lip syncing, and dances with friends. I scroll, like, and interact in comment sections. My videos reach different cultures and countries via the FYP algorithm.
An example of algorithmic visibility in action (Bucher, 2012).
Mixed, Intercultural, networked
Modes
Image, Video, Text, Audio, Translation, Emoji
My Practices
I use all features, posts, stories, reels, and DMs. Crucially, I use Instagram to maintain friendships from Prague, where I was born. This makes it my primary tool for intercultural communication.
Adami (2017) multimodality
Private, family, professional
Modes
Text, Voice notes, image, video, Emoji, Documents
My Practices
Used for family, older generations, work communication, and family friends. I adapt my communication style significantly depending on who I am messaging, a form of code, switching shaped by audience and relationship.
Gee (2005) Digital identities
Snapchat
Intimate, ephemeral, close friends
Modes
Image, Video, text, Emoji, Ephemeral media
My Practices
Reserved for my immediate close friends, the most private and intimate of my platforms. No streaks, but daily communication with those I am closest to. The ephemeral nature of Snaps shapes what I choose to share.
Kress and van Leeuwen (2001)
Close reading
A close reading: one digital interaction
Content note: The following interaction takes place in the context of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022. Please be mindful of this before reading.
A good friend from Prague sent me a message on Instagram on February 27, 2022, informing me that she had successfully crossed the border and was on her way to Prague. Through a digital platform, this was more than simply communication; it was relief, love, and connection beyond boundaries and cultures.
What modes are being used?
This interaction is multimodal, drawing on text, emoji, and platform features simultaneously. Although I reply in English and my friend replies in Ukrainian, communication between us is effortless. This is made possible by Instagram's built-in translation feature, which turns it into a semiotic resource in and of itself, allowing for cross-linguistic communication without either of us sacrificing our native tongue (Adami, 2017). The weight of the emojis is equal. A kiss, three red hearts, and hands in prayer are not ornamental alternatives. As Kress and van Leeuwen (2001) argue, every semiotic choice is motivated. Red hearts are used repeatedly in both texts to convey comfort and warmth in a visual language that completely breaks down the barrier between Ukrainian and English.
Instagram's built-in translation feature — Ukrainian to English
Why these choices?
During a time of extreme emotional strain, my friend decided to write in Ukrainian since it felt the safest and most natural. According to Gee (2005), the social norms of various digital places shape the identities we act there. This was not a public performance, but rather a private, intimate encounter. I replied in English with "xxx," which is a very British custom, but because of our common past, my friend could relate to its warmth. This demonstrates that using whatever semiotic resources the platform provides, intercultural digital communication is about connecting across differences rather than eradicating them (Blommaert & Varis, 2015)..
My response in English with emojis. "Show translation" feature visible
What does this tell us?
This interaction demonstrated that digital platforms are not neutral spaces. According to Blommaert and Varis (2015), digital spaces foster "light communities", transient bonds between individuals who have a meaningful online moment. That's precisely what this cross-border message is during a crisis. Three red hearts. An emoji of praying. "Missing you lots." An entire relationship, years of shared history, cultural differences, and sincere love was condensed into a single Instagram message by these minor semiotic decisions.
What I learned from observing my own practices
I learned more about my own communication than I had anticipated from analysing this exchange. Prior to this module, I just communicated on various platforms without giving it any thought. I became aware of how much I rely on emojis and other semiotic tools, like pictures, to convey meaning after seeing this discussion, especially when language itself becomes a barrier.
The thing that surprised me the most was how much was said in this exchange without using a single word. Three red hearts. An emoji for prayer. "Missing you lots." These seemingly insignificant decisions encapsulated a whole relationship in a single Instagram message, including years of shared history, cultural differences, and sincere concern. Before now, I had never thought of these as deliberate semiotic choices. However, none of the semiotic decisions are random, as Kress and van Leeuwen (2001) contend. In retrospect, I can see that each emoji I selected served a purpose in communication that words could not.
Additionally, this exchange closely relates to what my group discovered in our podcast. My own Instagram interaction demonstrated the same dynamic on a smaller, more intimate scale, just as Justin Bieber's comment sections demonstrated multiple communities communicating across language barriers, Spanish fans writing "te amo," Indonesian fans flooding posts with culturally specific references. One platform serves as a mediator between two individuals and two languages. The distinction is that Instagram's translation function served as the link in my conversation. There was no such bridge in Bieber's comment sections; communities remained in their own linguistic circles.
The most significant lesson I took away from this experience is that digital communication is never as easy as it seems. In reality, what appears to be a casual message between friends is actually a complicated negotiation of emotional context, cultural background, platform affordances, and semiotic resources. Instagram was more than just the venue for our discussion. It actively shaped what was possible within it.