(IM)POLITENESS IN THE INTERACTIONS OF SELECTED NIGERIAN NEWS-BASED VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES

Abstract

Virtual communities have become the largest and most diverse domains since the turn of the century where language plays a dominant role. Studies on communities in the Nigerian cyberspace have concentrated on discourse structure and general language use than on politeness and its connection to online news reportage. This study was, therefore, designed to examine (im) politeness behaviour of participants in Nigerian news-based virtual communities, with a view to determining how participants negotiate and process (im)politeness, as well as how the cultural heterogeneity of the Nigerian society impacts on (im)politeness behaviour. Tae-Seop Lim and John Bower’s model of Face alongside Miriam Locher and Richard Watt’s Relational Work were adopted as the framework, while the interpretive design was used. The Sahara Reporters, Yabaleftonline and Biafra TV, representing Internet-based online news, and the online versions of Leadership and The Nation, based on conventional newspapers were purposively selected for their non-censorship of participants’ behaviour and representation of different political ideologies. Twenty-five threads of comments on the online news posts were collected through participatory observation between 2014 and 2018. Data were subjected to pragmatic analysis. Participants engaged in a multi-directional pattern of interaction with news characters, writers and co-interactants perceived as interactants in the community and engaged directly in negotiating (im)politeness. Observed tools of politeness, including ‘likes’, graphemes and fellowship/competence face observance, were often the same for impoliteness since their interpretations rely mostly on emotions linked inextricably to each interactant’s side of the argument. The expression of both politeness and impoliteness were multimodal. Impoliteness, however, exploited more memes, GIFs, pictures and emojis, while polite expressions were mostly verbal but for the use of ‘approval smileys’ and ‘likes’. Face observance strategies most frequently used included ‘agreement’, ‘praise of opinion’ and use of indigenous expressions and sociolects. These, in turn, served to express face threats to opponents who are also excluded from the linguistic manoeuvrings. Although politeness in the virtual communities proceeded from the need to maintain rapport and enhance communication, impoliteness is often a tool to generate responses. The perceived truth-value of online news items and other aspects of contextual configuration constantly swayed the choice of politeness behaviour. Homogenous Biafra TV. community generated the most frequent use of agreement. Less serious news in Yabaleftonline generated more politic banter, while serious news generated unfriendly conversations in virtual communities of the Sahara Reporters, Leadership and The Nation, especially when such news is perceived as untrue or culturally biased. When netizens found themselves in communicative situations involving argument across ethno-social or geopolitical divides, impoliteness, via trolls, was used as a polarity antenna and tool to sustain conversation, while otherness and distance were enacted as basis for impolite behaviour. Impolite behaviour was sustained as long as posters enjoyed support. Politeness does not necessarily sustain conversation, compared to face-to-face interactions. (Im) politeness behaviour in Nigerian news-based virtual communities reflects diverse attitudes to news reportage, which, in turn, points at the polarised nature of the Nigerian society. Participants’ concern for face is lessened by the anonymity/impersonality that characterises conversations in virtual communities.