A Critical Discourse Analysis Approach to Mixed-Gender Friendship in the Saudi Context: The Case of the Twitter Platform.

CRITICAL discourse analysis; TWITTER (Web resource); GENDER; FRIENDSHIP; TAGS (Metadata)

Motivated by the growing popularity of Twitter as a public sphere where both genders interact and discuss and debate issues both formally and informally, this study explores the perspectives of Twitter users regarding mixed-gender friendships and gender segregation in the Saudi context. This study constitutes a wide-ranging investigation that explores how Twitter's platform has been used in the debate regarding whether mixed-gender friendships should be allowed in the Saudi context. Adopting the tools of critical discourse analysis, the study analyses the detailed discourses and discursive strategies pertaining to mixed-gender friendship in a hashtag thread of 8050 tweets collected in September 2020. Overall, the hashtag describes the public reaction and debate with respect to mixed-gender friendship in Saudi Arabia, simultaneously highlighting the contribution of the evoked tweeted arguments in raising awareness of mixed-gender friendship restrictions imposed under the configuration of religious, social, and political discourses. The data analyzed demonstrates that the differences in arguments concerning mixed-gender friendships within the forms of dissent and protest are in a dialogically supportive relation with dominant political, religious, and social conservative discourses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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