Performing Authenticity Online: A Rhetorical-Linguistic and Multimodal Analysis of Malaysian Influencers’ Instagram Discourse

Abstract

This study examines how Malaysian social media influencers construct persuasive authenticity on Instagram through rhetorical and visual strategies. Grounded in Aristotle’s classical rhetorical theory and Digital Visual Rhetoric, the research seeks to understand the linguistic and visual features that generate ethos, pathos, and logos in influencer communication. A qualitative case study approach was employed, focusing on two prominent Malaysian influencers, Khairul Aming and Pinn Yang. Twenty of their Instagram posts were analysed using Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA), with data coded and organized through NVivo software. The findings indicate that Khairul Aming’s informal linguistic style, humour, and depiction of everyday realism reinforced ethos through cultural familiarity and transparency, while Pinn Yang’s minimalist aesthetic and consistent colour palette evoked pathos through visual calmness and emotional intimacy. Collectively, these strategies demonstrate how Malaysian influencers merge classical rhetorical appeals with contemporary visual design to sustain authenticity and audience engagement. This study contributes to the field of digital rhetoric and communication studies by integrating classical and visual rhetorical frameworks within a localized Southeast Asian context. It highlights persuasion as both a linguistic and aesthetic performance, underscoring how authenticity in digital spaces is strategically constructed through the interplay of language, culture, and design.