DISCOURSE STRATEGIES AND LINGUISTIC IDENTITY IN BRITISH LIFESTYLE BLOGS: A MULTIMODAL ANALYSIS OF DIGITAL SELF-PRESENTATION

Abstract

This study examines the linguistic characteristics of British lifestyle blogs as a distinct digital discourse genre that has significantly influenced contemporary media landscape and online communication patterns. The research analyzes how British lifestyle bloggers construct their digital identity through specific linguistic strategies, including structural organization, grammatical constructions, stylistic devices, and orthographic choices. Drawing on a corpus of representative British lifestyle blogs across various thematic domains (travel, cuisine, personal development, beauty, sports, books, and technology), this investigation reveals how linguistic features serve both communicative and persuasive functions in digital selfpresentation. The analysis demonstrates that British lifestyle blogs exhibit unique discourse characteristics that differentiate them from other online genres, combining elements of conversational language with sophisticated persuasive techniques. Key findings indicate that bloggers strategically employ incomplete sentences, passive voice constructions, conditional clauses, and direct speech to create intimacy with their audience while maintaining authority in their subject matter. The study also reveals that orthographic violations are often deliberate stylistic choices rather than errors, serving to enhance emotional impact and establish a conversational tone. Stylistic devices such as metaphor, personification, epithet, hyperbole, and comparison are extensively used to create memorable content and influence reader perception. The research contributes to understanding how digital discourse evolves within specific cultural contexts and provides insights into the linguistic mechanisms that enable effective online selfpresentation and audience engagement in the British digital media landscape.