Polycode Semiosis of Communication on Digital Social Platforms

This study examined polycode semiosis in communication on the popular Telegram platform, where the interaction of verbal and non-verbal codes forms the basis for effective information transmission. The research relevance stems from the need to analyze polycode texts in the context of digitalization, where the growing role of virtual communication is transforming traditional semiotic systems. The study aim was to identify the features of polycode communication as a means of representing the author’s intent by establishing correlations between verbal and non-verbal codes. This paper focused on examining polycode texts in Telegram news channels and their role in conveying the author’s intent. These texts perform cognitive, expressive, phatic, and metadiscursive functions. The study analyzed the interaction between verbal and non-verbal components of messages. The results confirmed that polycode communication enhanced the communicative potential of content. The non-verbal code can both complement the meaning conveyed by the verbal code, revealing the sender’s stance, and alter it, sometimes even contrasting with it, to express an additional evaluation that is not explicitly represented through verbal means.