Discourse and Identity in the Digital World: Mansoura University Website as a Model

Digital Discourse is concerned with the manipulation of multi-modal and multi-semiotic resources which are investigated to characterize identities and ideologies in a digital world that is said to be a part of a whole society, as claimed by Gee (2005). A digital text is a type of human communication that can be described as multimodal by incorporating writing, images, sounds and other semiotic systems. In the last three decades, people have become more attracted to say so many things about themselves and their activities through digital media. However, attempts to give a comprehensive image of a college or university are limited. The present study aims to signify how a digital text can reflect ideologies and realities about the social and academic life of Mansoura University, located in Mansoura city, the capital of Dakahlia Governorate on the east bank of the Nile in Egypt. The data employed as the basis of the analysis in this study is extracted from large database of announcements, texts and images displayed on Mansoura University website in 2020 (following the widespread transmission of Covid-19). The study proposes a multidisciplinary analysis of Mansoura University website, following Darvin (2016) and Petroni (2019). Mansoura University website is said to be an attempt by a collective institution to establish an image of itself on the internet. The digitized discourse is designed to provide a collective image that replicates the identity of Mansoura University and highlights its position (inter)nationally. Dealing with the information displayed on the target website as a type of commodity that possesses multiple traits and, at the same time, reflects issues of identity and reputation building, the study concludes that the analysis of the digital discourse has assigned Mansoura University a type of identity that can be described as a Commodified Identity.