BUILDING RAPPORT IN AN ONLINE COMMUNITY VIA POSITIVE POLITENESS STRATEGIES

The present paper concentrates on the role of politeness strategies in on-line groups formed around an Internet message board dedicated to dieting and offering support as well as information. As the concept of weight is a sensitive part of people’s identity, it produces face-threatening acts as defined by Brown and Levinson (1978). It is positive politeness that is said to prevail in women’s and in-group language (Coates 1993, 2003, Holmes 1993, 1995, 2006); hence the aim of this paper is to show which positive politeness strategies are used to minimize these threats and how they differ depending on participants’ sex. Moreover, it also intends to examine how positive politeness strategies function to enhance community spirit and keep an on-line community alive