DISCURSIVE NATURE OF LANGUAGE IN SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS: A POLITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF TRUMP AND KHAMENEI’S SELECTED POSTS

Abstract

The rapid development of social media has dramatically changed the way geopolitical conflicts as conveyed and framed for the target audience. The current study explores the significance of social media in the strategic contest between the United States and Iran, proving to be a catalyst of tension in 2026 which resulted in US-Israeli joint military action against Iran in February 2026. Using Fairclough’s (2003) Three-Dimensional Model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of text, this research interprets the strategic use of social media sites, including X, Truth Social, Facebook, and Instagram, by American and Iranian politicians to construct divergent narratives of power, legitimacy, identity, and conflict. Textual features (military metaphors, binary oppositions, emotive language), discursive practices (social media posts), and broader socio-political contexts (American colonialism, Iranian anti-imperialism, asymmetric use of digital tools) are all considered in the analysis. The findings demonstrate that social media is not only a mode of communication but a site of struggle through which discourse creates reality, alters the way people think about the conflict, and affects international relations. The findings contribute to explicate the hidden motifs and agenda implied in the geopolitical discourse and digital communication for researchers, policymakers and media practitioners.