Abstract
Social media remains the means of communication through which people’s ideas, feelings and emotions are expressed. As beautiful as the ample use of this source of communication, its immense advantage on social interaction notwithstanding, cannot be over-emphsised. It is on this note that the study dwells on the pragmatic implications of misinformation in selected text messages on social media. Forty (40) text messages on politics were selected using purposive sampling technique. Data were analysed using Lawal’s pragmatic model. The findings of the study revealed the significance use of Lawal’s pragmatic model on the interpretation of text messages because the model is explicit enough to capture all the necessary pragmatic tools needed for easy analysis of data. In addition, the study is equally a revelation of the pragmatic implications of misinformation in text messages on social media at the level of social interactions. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that serious laws and edicts should be enacted to deal with those behind the fake news on social in order to serve as a deterrent to others.
Keywords: Pragmatics, Implications, Misinformation, Social media, Text messages, Communication
DOI: 10.36349/alqajolls.2026.v01i02.009
author/Saliu Kolawale (PhD) & Ameen Akeen
journal/AL-QALAM JLLS 1(2) | June 2026
