Browsing by Author "MWANGI, JAMES."

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    Uchanganuzi Wa Kiisimu Wa Uhalifu Katika Mitandao Ya Facebook Na Baruapepe
    (Laikipia University, 2024-07) MWANGI, JAMES.
    Communication has greatly advanced in the 21st centuary following the invention of information technology and the use of internet. The shift of human interaction to the online space has givesn rise to cybercrime and online discourse that is different from spoken and written discourses. Cybercrime has existed ever since internet came to be. Cybercriminals use emails, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, To-go, WhatsApp and many other online platforms to deceive and get money from users. Language is used to lure online users into their evil schemes like distribution of inheritance, commercial messages, phishing, forgery, prize and lottery winning, business loans and offers from banks. This study was guided by three objectives: First, the research was set out to investigate different types of cybercrime in Facebook and emails, analyse the persuasive strategies used by cybercriminals in Facebook and emails and examine stylistic devices in criminals messages. Computer Mediated Discourse Analysis theory by Herring and Persuasive theory by Aristotle which was later advanced by Cialdini and reviewed by Hovland were applied. This research was carried out in the library, where the researcher collected data by downloading texts and pictures from Facebook and email. Being a qualitative research, descriptive design method was employed giving explanation in details in every step. The research sample was selected purposefully using one hundred texts and pictures, which were later reduced to forty seven in accordance with the theories and objectives. The data that was collected revealed that persuasive strategies such as ethos, logos and pathos are employed by fraudsters to convince online users to a point of committing a fraud. The study also revealed that cybercriminals employs several stylistic devices such as repetition, emoji, narratives, rhetorical questions and flashback to ensure they succeed in communication and persuade online users. The study also revealed the presence of various types of crimes on these two online platforms such as forgery, sexual harrassment, threats, discrimination and inflammatory propaganda. The research will be of help to learners and language researchers in the following ways: it will enable researchers analyze different discourses as used by people online and interpret meaning from the contexts. Furthermore, the results will increase knowledge for linguists by analyzing how Computer Mediated Discourse Analysis and Persuasive theories can be used to identify differerent styles of language use and communication strategies that indicates early signs of cybercrime and how this knowledge can be used to detect, prevent and reduce cases of online frauds.