The pragmatic mechanism of the communicative genre of rumors in the internet space (a case study of posts regarding the British Royal Family in the Anglophone blogosphere) – Part 1

Archive of Scientific Articles

ISSUE:

Philology. Theory & Practice. 2026. Volume 19. Issue 4

COLLECTION:

Germanic Languages

All issues

Abstract. The research aims to model the pragmatic mechanism of rumors as a communicative genre in the modern Anglophone microblogging space. The article examines the methods of formation, functioning, dissemination, and influence of rumors as a multifaceted element of the communication system. This approach allows for the identification and description of the mechanism of the communicative act – specifically, the rumor in an English-language microblog – and the isolation of users’ specific goals and intentions, ranging from satisfying the need for emotional release and seeking social support to manipulating public opinion. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the construction of an original pragma-communicative model of rumors in microblogs, which integrates classical genre theories with new data derived from the analysis of users’ emotional-affective, self-representational, and utilitarian intentions. Unlike existing works that predominantly analyze rumors from psychological or sociological perspectives, the proposed model, for the first time in Russian linguistics, presents the rumor in the digital environment as a structurally organized communicative event. In this model, a key role is played not only by the content but also by the process of collective discussion itself, facilitated by specific linguistic means within an interactive media environment. As a result, the study identifies the pragmatic mechanism of the communicative genre of rumors in the blogosphere, consisting of the following elements: “addresser (regular user, blogger, media representative) – addressee – topic (health / appearance / interpersonal relations / lifestyle) – prerequisites (a ‘vacuum event’) – underlying need (primarily self-expression, emotive, and utilitarian needs) – goal (satisfaction of said needs) – communicative strategy (code: polycode; style: sensational narrative; expression: high emotionality) – location (the pragma-communicative environment of the microblog) – time (situational, sociocultural, digital era) – environment (demographics: predominantly 18-37 years old; motivations: self-representation, social cohesion, and the culture of participation and transformation) – nation (Anglophone communicative culture characterized by digital uninhibitedness)”.