The medium is accountable: Metacommunication and media ideologies about voice messages in WhatsApp chats

Abstract

Voice messages (VMs), which allow users to send recorded messages to other contacts, are a popular feature of instant messaging applications. Despite their popularity, linguistic research on VMs is still in its infancy. This study analyses metacommunication around VMs in mobile messaging conversations among WhatsApp users in Germany and Spain. It focuses on participants’ metacommunicative accounts (such as references, explanations, or motivations) of their preference for audio posting over other forms of communication (e.g. texting). Drawing on recent advances in digital conversation analysis, we examine how accounts placed in different sequential positions in messenger chats (preceding a VM, at the beginning or end of a VM, or after it has been sent) address diverse aspects of voice messaging (from either the sender’s or recipient’s perspective). We demonstrate that accounting accomplishes different social actions, such as framing a VM as something outstanding or worth apologising for. We argue that a sequential analysis of accounting and metacommunication offers rich insights into users’ media ideologies concerning the appropriateness and timing of text and voice messaging. Overall, these findings contribute to a better understanding of the growing importance of voice in mobile communication.