An Analytico-Philosophical Discourse to the Pragmatic Approach to Digital Communication in Nigeria

The wave of the current unprecedented advancements in Information and Communication Technology, which spread in Nigeria, nay Africa is becoming unfathomable has some linguistic implications worthy of philosophical appraisal. The chapter discusses how the new digital milieu is changing human understanding and use of language in social and formal discourse. Contrary to the popular assumptions that the digital communication feat is holistically advantageous, the chapter argues that the advent of digital communication in Nigeria has occasioned unconsciously, more linguistic and social problems on the psyche of Nigerians. Through a careful survey of the style of sending text messages and mails via mobile phones and the Internet, the chapter establishes that Nigerians adopt pragmatic approach, which defies any respect for grammatical and linguistic rules in digital communication. Though, this ideological basis, the chapter argues, might hold some immediate communication effects for the senders and recipients; in spite of these supposed benefits, the chapter argues that the pragmatic approach to digital communication in Nigeria is inadequate. Thus, a case is made in the chapter for a more resonant underlying philosophy of language, which will guide digital communication in contemporary Nigeria.