Humour in multimodal times. Insights from online interactions among senior users of a WhatsApp group

Abstract

WhatsApp groups have become a popular way of communication among relatives, colleagues, friends and acquaintances regardless of different backgrounds, such as culture, education or age. When conveyed in digital settings, humour is usually evoked through multimodal elements that can modify the illocutionary force of the text or send complete hilarious messages that sparkle conversations. This paper seeks to analyse the expression of humour in a WhatsApp group made up of users over 65, a cohort that has not yet attracted considerable attention from research in the field. This is part of a broader research project that aims to investigate communicative exchanges in WhatsApp groups from a cross-generational perspective.