(Im) Politeness and Gender in the Arabic Discourse of Social Media Network Websites: Facebook as a Norm

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Safaa Al-Shlool

<p class="1"><span lang="X-NONE">The present study aims to investigate the differences and similarities in the ways men and women use (im)politeness strategies in communicating “online” in the Arabic discourse of social media network websites like Facebook as well as the role of the topic the interlocutors talk about in the use of (im)politeness strategies. In addition, the study investigates the differences between the men-men, women-women, women-men communication in the Arabic discourse of social media network website, Facebook. For the purposes of this study, a corpus of online Arabic texts were collected from some public web pages of the most popular TV show programs on some of the most well-liked social media network websites such as Facebook over a period of four months (from September 2012- December 2012). The obtained data were studied quantitatively and qualitatively. Many studies have been conducted on cross-gender differences especially in the computer mediated communication CMC, but none so far has focused on the gender differences and (im)politeness in the Arabic discourse of social media network websites although there is a huge number of Arabic users of such websites. The present study, therefore, attempts to fill in the gap in the literature. </span></p>

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 91-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.P. Belinskaya ◽  
I.D. Bronin

The paper focuses on the issue of accuracy of interpersonal perception in computer-mediated communication. It shows how J.Biesanz’s social accuracy model of interpersonal perception may be used in explorations of interpersonal perception in mediated contacts — via personal webpages in social media. In the study the subjects (15 people) were asked to assess individuals with whom they were unacquainted basing on their webpages in VKontakte (30 web pages) using a brief version of the Big Five Inventory. The outcomes reveal which objective parameters of the assessed webpages contribute most to the accuracy of interpersonal perception in the subjects, and also prove that the accuracy of interpersonal perception in this case is shaped by its normative component, not by the distinctive one. This suggests that in virtual communication one’s perception of a partner may be more affected by stereotypes than in real communication — a hypothesis that needs to be further tested. The research was conducted with the assistance of the Russian Foundation for Humanities, project 14-06-00730 “Transformations of Higher Mental Functions in the Context of Information Society Development (A Cultural-Historical Approach)”.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 205630512098447
Author(s):  
Daphna Yeshua-Katz ◽  
Ylva Hård af Segerstad

This study highlights the challenges of computer-mediated communication for vulnerable individuals and groups, by studying boundary work in stigmatized communities online. Five stigmatized online communities with different affordances were studied: (1) “pro-ana” blogs; (2) an infertility discussion board; (3) a Facebook group for bereaved parents; and (4) two WhatsApp groups for Israeli veterans of war with post-traumatic stress disorder. In-depth interviews with members and administrators ( n = 66) revealed that social media affordances such as low anonymity and high visibility may marginalize those living with stigma. While research literature applauds social media for allowing the formation and maintenance of social capital, our study highlights the paradox caused by these very same affordances. To offer safe and functioning environments of support, the communities must guard against impostors whose presence threatens their safe havens. Simultaneously, this may make these groups inaccessible to those who truly need support and remove such groups from the public eye.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Maria Miwita Rosari

Through conversation ones establish relationship with others and keep channels open for further relationships. Politeness strategies and issues have been the focus of a number of studies. The way ones request for something to others depends on some factors such as the context they are in and the interlocutors they talk to. This article aims at developing the latest discussion on politeness phenomena by paying attention to the specifics of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) settings specifically an online discussion forum. This article attempts to identify how speech act of request is performed in Top Law School (TLS) online discussion forum. The data were analyzed to observe the forms of speech act of request and the types of speech act of request performed in the online discussion forum. The findings of this paper revealed that the forms of speech act of request are expressed by declarative, interrogative, and imperative sentence. Moreover, the types of speech act of request employed by the users are directive, indirective, and literal speech acts. The writer believes that the study will be beneficial and a good reference for future researchers in conducting research on pragmatics under the same topic. Hopefully, it will enrich readers’ knowledge and understanding of the speech act of request and the politeness in CMC.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-32
Author(s):  
Otilia Pacea

In the context of internet genre migration and proliferation, conventional taxonomies are no longer valid. To classify blogs between thematic and personal blogs is to blissfully ignore the legions of successful content prosumers, from political blogs to travel blogs, from food blogs to MAD (mom and dad) blogs, from fashion blogs to milblogs. With the recent explosion of social media, the digital landscape shifted and today there are more voices online than ever before. For blogs, however, the original purpose for communication has always been twofold: to inform and to emote. Computer-mediated communication may be overpopulated with a myriad of mixed forms and blogs might be dead or simply, difficult to reach with so much overlapping. Yet high-impact blogs still remain and are widely read. This paper explores the language of high-impact blogs, testing a new methodology for genre analysis to solve genre hybridity in the case of computer-mediated discourse.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Iman Mohamed Mahfouz

The language of Computer-mediated Communication (CMC) is known to deviate from standard language in many ways dictated by the characteristics of the medium in order to achieve brevity, speed as well as innovation. Together with the intrinsic features of CMC in general, the character limitation imposed by the popular social media platform, Twitter has triggered the use of a number of linguistic devices including shortening strategies in addition to unconventional spelling and grammar. Using two parallel corpora of English tweets written by Egyptians and non-Egyptians on a similar hashtag, the study attempts to compare the shortening strategies used in both datasets. A taxonomy for orthographic and morphological shortening strategies was adapted from Thurlow and Brown (2003) and Denby (2010) with particular focus on message length, punctuation, clipping, abbreviations, contractions, alphanumeric homophones and accent stylization. Given the scarcity of linguistic studies conducted on Egyptian tweets despite the vast amount of data they offer, the study compares the findings about tweets written by Egyptians in English as a foreign language to previous studies. The findings suggest that Egyptians tend to omit punctuation more frequently, whereas non-Egyptians favor abbreviations, contractions and clipped forms. The results also indicate that Twitter may be shifting towards longer messages while at the same time increasingly employing more shortening strategies. The study also reveals that character limitation is not the only factor shaping language use on Twitter since not all linguistic choices are governed by brevity of communication.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Zhongrui Wang

This study aims to explore the politeness strategies used in making requests and responses in computer-mediated communication (CMC) among Chinese college students and the applicability of discursive approach to such analysis. Following the steps of previous studies using discursive approach, some extracts of chat history on WeChat concerning requests and responses are selected and showed to the interlocutors. Then the interlocutors were asked to judge the conversations from the perspective of politeness. By analyzing the data, this study found that various strategies were used in order to achieve politeness in CMC, which can be associated with Brown and Levinson’s theory of politeness. This study also found that discursive approach can be applied in analyzing politeness in CMC well though it differs from face-to-face communication in some ways.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily L Morrow ◽  
Fangyun Zhao ◽  
Lyn Turkstra ◽  
Catalina Toma ◽  
Bilge Mutlu ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Individuals with a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) report fewer social contacts, less social participation, and more social isolation than noninjured peers. Cognitive-communication disabilities may prevent individuals with TBI from accessing the opportunities for social connection afforded by computer-mediated communication, as individuals with TBI report lower overall usage of social media than noninjured peers and substantial challenges with accessibility and usability. Although adaptations for individuals with motor and sensory impairments exist to support social media use, there have been no parallel advances to support individuals with cognitive disabilities, such as those exhibited by some people with TBI. In this study, we take a preliminary step in the development process by learning more about patterns of social media use in individuals with TBI as well as their input and priorities for developing social media adaptations. OBJECTIVE This study aims to characterize how and why adults with TBI use social media and computer-mediated communication platforms, to evaluate changes in computer-mediated communication after brain injury, and to elicit suggestions from individuals with TBI to improve access to social media after injury. METHODS We conducted a web-based survey of 53 individuals with a chronic history of moderate-to-severe TBI and a demographically matched group of 51 noninjured comparison peers. RESULTS More than 90% of participants in both groups had an account on at least one computer-mediated communication platform, with Facebook and Facebook Messenger being the most popular platforms in both groups. Participants with and without a history of TBI reported that they use Facebook more passively than actively and reported that they most frequently maintain web-based relationships with close friends and family members. However, participants with TBI reported less frequently than noninjured comparison participants that they use synchronous videoconferencing platforms, are connected with acquaintances on the web, or use social media as a gateway for offline social connection (eg, to find events). Of the participants with TBI, 23% (12/53) reported a change in their patterns of social media use caused by brain injury and listed concerns about accessibility, safety, and usability as major barriers. CONCLUSIONS Although individuals with TBI maintain social media accounts to the same extent as healthy comparisons, some may not use them in a way that promotes social connection. Thus, it is important to design social media adaptations that address the needs and priorities of individuals with TBI, so they can also reap the benefits of social connectedness offered by these platforms. By considering computer-mediated communication as part of individuals’ broader social health, we may be able to increase web-based participation in a way that is meaningful, positive, and beneficial to broader social life.


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