(Im)politeness and disagreement in two Hong Kong Internet discussion forums

The study of politeness and disagreement in computer-mediated communication (CMC) is a bourgeoning area of study in pragmatics. Adopting the discursive and interactional approaches, this paper investigates the issue in two Hong Kong Internet discussion forums based on the forum interlocutors’ disagreement strategies. Lay participants (i.e., forum browsers) were also invited to rate the identified disagreement strategies in the parameters of politeness, appropriateness and positively/negatively marked behavior on a 5-point Likert scale. The correlations among the three parameters were analyzed statistically. A follow-up interview was administered to better understand the relationship between disagreement and the three parameters of relational work.Eleven types of disagreement strategies were identified. Most strategies were direct and unmitigated but generally perceived as politic, appropriate, and not negatively marked by lay participants. The three parameters were found to be correlated statistically, and some shared criteria between them were discovered from the interview data. In addition, each Internet forum is a unique community characterized by distinctive features. The identified disagreement strategies have yielded some support for the applicability of the discursive and interactional approaches to the analysis of politeness and disagreement in CMC; the statistical analysis and lay participants’ judgment and rating have shed some light on the complicated relational work in performing the speech act.

► Identified eleven disagreement strategies from two Hong Kong Internet forums.
► Three parameters of relational work are statistically correlated.
► Lay members’ rating and interview data support statistical analysis.
► Identified shared criteria between and within the three parameters.
► Disagreement culture of HK Internet forums is direct and unmitigated but politic.