Politeness Strategies of Commenters in Online News Portals

In the midst of the discussions surrounding drug related violence in the Philippines and how people interact with this topic on online platforms not only reflects their viewpoints but also reveals the subtle approaches they take to navigate potentially challenging conversations. This study uses discourse analysis to explore the politeness tactics seen in comments shared on news websites. Following Brown and Levinsons framework. This qualitative study employs discourse analysis to delve into the politeness strategies evident in commentaries posted on online news portals. By applying Brown and Levinson’s framework, the study categorizes and examines the utilization of both positive and negative politeness strategies within these commentaries. Results showed that, commentaries were presented utilizing negative and positive politeness. Claim common ground, strategic conflict avoidance, satisfying shared expectations, and social politeness were the commonly used positive politeness strategies. On the other hand, redress other wants of hearer’s, communicate speaker’s want to impinge on hearer, and maximizing the potential for conflict and confrontation were the negative strategies embedded in the commentaries.