Impoliteness Strategies in User Comments on Clara Dao’s Instagram Posts

This study investigates the types and communicative functions of impoliteness in the comment section of Clara Dao’s Instagram posts, particularly those attracting public reactions to her decision to undergo breast augmentation surgery. It aims to identify the impoliteness strategies employed by Instagram users and examine their communicative functions. This research uses a qualitative descriptive method, with data collected from relevant Instagram comments through observation and note-taking. The data were analyzed using Culpeper’s (1996, 2011) theory of impoliteness. The findings reveal four strategies: bald on record impoliteness, positive impoliteness, negative impoliteness, and sarcasm or mock politeness. These strategies appear in comments expressing direct disapproval, attacking the target’s public image, attempting to silence her, and ridiculing her through ironic expressions. In terms of communicative functions, affective impoliteness is the most evident, primarily expressing negative emotions such as disappointment, frustration, and disapproval. Coercive impoliteness is also identified in comments that attempt to restrict or control the target’s expression. However, entertaining impoliteness and the withhold politeness strategy are not identified in the analyzed data. The findings demonstrate that impoliteness in the examined Instagram comments operates through both explicit criticism and indirect ridicule, reflecting how language can be used to express negative evaluations in digital interactions.