COMMUNICATION STYLES OF TWITTER NETIZENS IN CANCELLING

CAT ARAMBULO-ANTONIO

Axeleth A. Dahonog
Patricia M. Geminiano

A Thesis Proposal Presented to the

School of Education, Arts, and Sciences
Colegio de San Juan de Letran Calamba
In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree of

Bachelor of Arts in Communication

Calamba, Laguna
May 2021
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page no.
Title Page i

Approval Sheet ii

List of Figures iv

Chapter
I INTRODUCTION 1
Research Question and Objectives 5
Significance of the Study 5
Scope and Limitations of the Study 6
Definition of Terms 7

II REVIEW OF LITERATURE 9

III METHODOLOGY 33
Research Locale 34
Sampling Design 34
Research Instrument 35
Data Gathering 35

References 37
 LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURES PAGE

1 Communication Styles Quadrant 30

2 Conceptual Framework 31
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

STRUCTURE AND RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

Social media networks make the world interconnected with each other. In 2020, these
networks gained massive popularity with approximately 3.6 billion users globally, and it is likely
to surge to almost 4.41 billion users by 2025 (Statistica, 2021). Filipinos currently hold the title
for the most social media use in 2019 and 2020 despite the slow internet connection speed and
dependability (ABS-CBN News, 2021).

Communication is a complex process, yet it is vital to gain a sense of belongingness to

be a part of society (Santandreu, S. Shurden, & M. Shurden, n.d). Social media’s digital
communication is more open to the world and paved the way for a new medium to connect
with people worldwide. It has a quick capacity to render information and send them to multiple
users at once (Dollarhide, 2021). As social media caters to people with different backgrounds,
age groups, language used, perception, culture, misunderstandings, and exhibition of toxic
social media behavior online can be evident. These social networks significantly impacted
language and communication, as people yearn for limitless information exchange and
socialization ( Slim & Hafedh, 2019). Netizens engage and interact with other people in a large
virtual community to find other users who have the same interest and discuss it online.
Interactions help people shape their own opinion and perception by exchanging their thoughts,
knowledge, and even experiences, leading to strengthening and establishing relationships
between other people (Kruckeberg, Romenti, & Valentini, 2016).

The ability of a person to connect with others lessens the probability of communication
breakdown. The communication style influences how others perceive someone and is likely to
reveal people's personalities and behavior. There are situations in which people misunderstood
others because of how they communicated their message, giving the wrong impression of what
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they actually mean (Christian, 2019a). Understandably, recognizing communication

styles based on the willingness of the communicator to validate other people’s opinion and
style, and their consideration for others will attain effective communication. To avoid poor
communication, communicators must identify their own communication style so they can
communicate effectively (Buffalmano, 2020). Assertive communication style is considered to be
the most effective since it encourages communicators to be more open and considerate to
other people’s needs (Christian, 2019b). Addressing issues and problems in a manner that does
not violate other people’s rights and encourage healthy opinion exchange despite differences
will minimize the risk of misunderstandings and conflicts.

As social media continues to develop, slang and expressions also become prominent,
especially on Twitter platforms, where trends usually start or get famous. Generation Z or Gen Z
interacts using a new language expression in a manner that they can all relate to (Jaggers &
Berk, 2019). Expressions such as "sksksk," "and I oop-," and "Ok, boomer" are prevalent in Gen
Z modern vocabulary (McCulloch, 2019 cited in Jaggers & Berk, 2019). These slangs are shared
and used frequently as a rebuttal or a comeback from undesired or controversial opinions.
Slangs can also ignite discourse, and since they are prominent on Twitter platforms, threads of
discussions from different people might give the readers little context or information about
what topic they are talking about. Language evolves, and slangs are products of innovation that
people use for mutual understanding, expressing feelings and opinions, and starting online
discussions.

Today, with the rise of social awareness and activism, aside from communication
purposes, social media is being used to fight for injustices, amplify advocacies, and hold people
accountable for unacceptable actions and opinions. Individuals' awareness helps eradicate
several prejudices such as racism, homophobia, sexual harassment, xenophobia, and others.
However, as people become intolerable to such actions, they will resist and oppose aggressively
leading to social media becoming a breeding ground for cyberbullying, harassment,
misinformation, and misguided anger towards a person, group, and brands. The prevalence of
injustices and toxic behavior seems to make social media users wary of personalities and
 3

immediately come at them whenever they act harshly. Netizens tend to immediately react and
share their reactions towards the issue and the person involved through their social media
accounts. This practice can be categorized as Calling in, Calling out, Boycotting, And Cancelling.
These actions are distinctive depending on which category they are in, but they all try to
achieve justice and social change (Bunch, 2020). This has become a staple in social media
platforms as engagements continue to increase and have higher chances of appearing on a
user's feed (Ng, 2020).

Cancelling is an action where people publicly inform their withdrawal of support to a

person after an action, opinion, or statement that is considered harmful (Brito, 2020). Public
shaming has been embedded in society for a long time. Today, a modern-day form of public
shaming now uses social media as one of the primary medium for its pervasiveness and is now
known as the Cancel Culture (Falinski & Tidwell, 2020). According to Mel Stanfill, an assistant
professor of texts and technology at University of Central Florida, due to fear and moral panic,
people resist harmful actions and behavior that used to be normal in the past (in Dudenhoefer,
2020).

People resort to cancel culture since it has been perceived as effective to hold people
accountable against misconducts and actions such as sexism and racism when the legal justice
system did not serve its purpose (Toler, 2021). According to Rob Henderson, cancel culture
helps an individual's social status, and diminishes the opposition's reputation. Henderson also
emphasizes that it satisfies people's urge to fight against the perceived enemy and drives the
target to expose themselves. Lastly, cancel culture is considered to be a fast and instant that
eliminates the possibility of long-term consequences (Henderson, 2019). Repercussions of
cancel culture are extreme and often lead to compromising jobs, careers, and more. The
phenomenon is highly seen on Twitter platforms due to the vast and quick reach of hashtags
that usually trends locally or even worldwide. (Bouvier, 2020). Cancel Culture does not fully
embody free speech; it only puts the target on trial by publicity. The action ascended from the
desire for social justice, but it has become a double-edged sword (Limos, 2020).
 4

In March 2020, Cat Arambulo-Antonio, a blogger and social media personality, caused a
stir online after her insensitive remarks towards the arrested workers. They insisted on going
outside after quarantine restrictions and were begging on television that they do not have
enough money to survive the impending lockdown. Cat Arambulo recorded the news on her
Instagram story and received backlash from the netizens. It was later re-uploaded on other
social media sites and became the most talked-about issue for several months. Cat Arambulo
"Stay at home" was often associated with other issues and trending topics that have something
to do with privilege, classicism, breach of quarantine protocols, etc. and are still highlighted up
to this day. Her infamous line, "God, why don't you m*therf*ckers stay at home," was still used
to call out other individuals or personalities who go out for leisure purposes despite the surge
of COVID-19 cases. This issue portrays the privilege at the height of the pandemic, which is
relevant up until now.

Analyzing how people communicated their message is crucial in understanding why and
how cancel culture takes place. By exploring the communication styles of netizens, people will
be able to adjust and adapt to each other's differences. Since social media caters to various
people with different languages, perceptions, cultures, and personal biases, misunderstanding
is inevitable. In communication, understanding one's communication style is significant to
eliminate or lower the risk of encountering communication barriers. However, since cancel
culture is pervasive and is known for taking away a person's chance for redemption, things may
go too far and create a toxic online community. While the goal is to achieve justice and moral
righteousness, it could simply breed hate and make the online place unsafe for its users.

While social media is becoming more often used as the primary medium to
communicate with others, it is essential to analyze communication styles to prevent
communication breakdown. In this study, the researchers will explore the communication styles
of Twitter netizens through cancel culture and Cat Arambulo-Antonio's "Stay at home" issue by
examining their tweets on Twitter.
 5

Research Question and Objectives

The purpose of this study is to describe the communication styles of the netizens who
participated in cancelling Cat Arambulo-Antonio on Twitter.
Specifically, this study aims to:
1. Determine the discourse features that characterize the cancelling of Cat
Arambulo-Antonio;
2. Identify the communication styles of the netizens based on the discourse
features;
3. Analyze the communication styles of the netizens in terms of their:
a. Openness to communication
b. Consideration for others

Significance of the Study

Netizens. Whether the netizens are participants of cancel culture or not, this study can
help them recognize the intention of those who cancelled the celebrity, influencer, or a brand.
Being aware of the communication style present in other netizens’ thoughts and opinions can
help the others understand the intention of the message, especially knowing that netizens can
come from different races, ethnicities, gender, sexual orientation, age, and other social and
cultural identities.
Celebrities and Influencers. This study can help the usual preys of cancel culture to gain
understanding of the intention behind their cancellation or their co-workers’ cancellation.
Brands and/or businesses fall under this category because they have influence on the public too.
This study can help them learn how to adapt to the communication styles present in the
emerging cancel culture and communicate their thoughts or their side of the story with either
excusing themselves from the reason why they were being cancelled or holding themselves
accountable in the most humble and sincerest way.
 6

AB Communication Program. This study will be helpful for the AB Communication

program as this study explores a new, significant part of media and social media. This study
would be able to describe the communication styles in relation to public discourses in social
media.
Future researchers. For the future researchers, this study will be able to help them to
have a grasp on communication styles in relation to public discourses on social media,
specifically in the emerging phenomenon that is cancel culture. This study can also contribute
additional information and knowledge which will serve as a groundwork for those who will
pursue the same area of knowledge.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

This study focuses on determining the communication styles of the netizens in

cancelling Cat Arambulo-Antonio. The data will be collected from Twitter, where Cat Arambulo-
Antonio’s Instagram story was reposted and was cancelled. The data that the researchers will
collect and analyze are those Twitter tweets posted from March 17, 2020, when Cat Arambulo-
Antonio’s Instagram story was posted, up to March 30, 2020, when the number of tweets
decreased in number.

The scope of this study is Cat Arambulo-Antonio’s “Stay-at-Home” issue as this issue
exhibited the definition, purpose, and repercussions of cancel culture. After Cat Arambulo-
Antonio posted her Instagram story ranting about the workers in the news, netizens called her
out for her elitism. Netizens, here, attempted to call for a change in her behavior and attitude
towards the issue, which showed the purpose of the cancel culture. Later on, netizens have
started tagging the brands who work with Cat Arambulo-Antonio, which compromised her
career. Many other local or international cancellations did not exhibit cancel culture in this
manner; hence, this issue was the chosen scope for this study.

This study will not cover finding the reason why cancel culture took place nor how
cancel culture is being initiated. The researchers will not look for the netizens’ social status, age,
 7

and beliefs to find their relation to their communication styles but will only rely on the
discourse features of their tweets to describe their communication styles.

Definition of Terms

Cancel Culture
- “The practice or tendency of engaging in mass canceling as a way of expressing
disapproval and exerting social pressure” (Merriam-Webster, n.d)
- A pervasive internet culture that promotes “canceling” or rejection of a particular person,
group, or brands due to toxic behavior or damaging opinions.
- It is a popular term that emerged on social media as a modern way of “public shaming”
that is done on the internet.
Cancelling
- An act of vehemently condemning a person, brand, organization, etc. due to a behavior,
opinion, or action done in the past or present. This is usually a form of ostracism where
people collectively act on social media to exclude or “cancel” the target by a public trial or
public shaming.
- Cancelling is an act of withdrawing from someone whose expression – whether political,
artistic, or otherwise – was once welcome or at least tolerated, but no longer is (Bromwich,
2018).
Commenters
- People that engage in discourse within social media platforms and discuss a particular
topic and be included in the thread of discussion.
- “One who comments especially : one who leaves a comment on an Internet site, story,
page, etc.” (Merriam-Webster, n.d.).
Communication Styles
- Communication styles are patterns of communication and interpersonal behavior that
people tend to repeat across different social settings (Buffalmano, 2021)
 8

Influencer
- A famous person, usually an internet personality or television artist, has a wide audience
that can impact or sway people’s perception and decisions about a product or brand.

Netizens
- People that engage in discourse within social media platforms and discuss a particular
topic and be included in the thread of discussion.
- Combination of words internet and citizens that means a member of the online
community.
- “An active participant in the online community of the Internet” (Merriam-Webster, n.d.)
Social Justice
- A concept of fairness, equality, and people enjoying basic human rights that must be
exhibited in the society in order to live a peaceful and comfortable life.
Social Media
- A digital-based communication tool that is utilized to exchange messages, information,
documents, photos or videos, and other files within the virtual community.
 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This section discusses communication and the rise of technology, communication styles
in different settings, the etymology and practice of “cancel culture”, and the issue about Cat
Arambulo-Antonio last March 2020.

Communication in Social Media

Communication is innate to humans; and is also considered a multifaceted process that

aims to exchange thoughts and opinions, interact, create meanings, and transmit information
through symbols and behavior (Santandreu, S. Shurden, & M. Shurden, n.d). With the advent of
technology, the rise of digital communication through social media added a new way to
connect people. According to Willis (2017), there are six significant reasons on how social media
has changed the way we communicate. Through social media platforms, people can now:

1. Get an instant update and immediate response or feedback;

2. Give other people a background or information about a situation or event

regardless of where they are in the world;

3. These platforms encourage people to share the entire event or a day in their life
instead of a time-limited highlights through pictures and videos to complete
their “social story”;

4. With the help of new features such as filters, stickers, drawings, and words,
pictures and videos, social media has become more interactive and encourages
people to share their experiences on a personal level;
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5. Millennials are now engaging more to news and journalism since it becomes
more interactive and accessible to them; and

6. The live feature on social media platforms helped to reveal current situations not
just in our lives but as well as in our society. (Willis, 2017)

As cited by Alhabash and Ma (2017), Carr and Hayes (2015) mentioned that social media
has become a form of ‘computer-mediated’ communication that allows a person to set up their
own profiles where other individuals can interact with; whether it may be a picture, text, videos,
and audio. Social Media such as Facebook and Twitter garnered 2.7 billion and 187 million users
in the world (Tankovska, 2021).

Communication today has become a challenge due to the global pandemic, but thanks
to online platforms, people have remained connected and engaged through a virtual setup.

Language and Communication Development

Social media plays a significant role in the development of language and communication.
As netizens continue to interact in these platforms, words evolve and create new meanings
from their pre-existing definitions. They give new context to these words and phrases that can
be used in their daily conversations and can be communicated through text messages, email,
and online (Foster, 2017). Raj (2017) reiterated that the Internet has a major influence in the
field of communication. Chi Luu (2019a), a resident linguist from JSTOR Daily, stated that:

“While language change is not a new thing, thanks to the wide-ranging

network of social media, it’s different in how fast and how virally it can
spread now, as well as the impact it can have in real life, as speakers take
up the linguistic trends used in their groups.”
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There are specific terms like “#MeToo”, “woke”, and “fake news” that resonate a
common ground for people that start discourse, these slangs arise due to the need of society to
discuss certain issues. The terms capture netizen’s attention, driving them to engage into the
discourse. The slangs emerging on social media is an effective tool to convince people to
engage in the discussion and use this as a way to exchange information from one person to
another. As language continues to progress, especially with the influence and help of social
media, it can be used both for good and bad purposes. These slangs will symbolize what this
generation went on (Luu, 2019b).

Social media has greatly affected an individual’s capability to communicate due to

remoteness and has taken its toll in people’s mental health (Patulny, 2020). As stated by Stacey
Hanke (2019), communicating through social media might be suitable for some circumstances,
but it also compromises the value of our connection.

Twitter and Hashtags

In 280 characters or less, people can share a tweet through a micro-blogging site called
Twitter. People can post “tweets” and interact with other users with the use of hashtags and
topics that pique their interest and will continue to harbor engagements from different people
all over the world (E-commerce Nation, 2018). As Twitter was the most used platform for social
movements such as the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter calls, the platform raised awareness
and held people accountable for the crime or harmful behavior that they have done (Dcosta,
2020) However, along with the progressive movement and urge to eradicate oppressive
behaviors and systems of our society, Twitter has become the “epicenter” of Cancel Culture
(Falter, 2020). “Woke” people, a term often used to describe someone who’s critical, and
voicing out injustices, has become the main reason why Twitter is deemed toxic by most
netizens. Twitter netizen’s display of aggressiveness assert dominance online instead of dealing
issues in an acceptable manner that is open and considerate (Presto, 2019) Several hashtag
 12

trended on Twitter with #[name]isoverparty format since 2015 and continues gaining massive
attention and triggering online discussion. Aside from written tweets, it is usually spammed by
GIFs, memes, and fancams of an “idol”, celebrity, or character (Haasch, 2020).

Communication Styles

Communication is a two-way process to mutual understanding through verbal, non-

verbal, and written messages (Toastmasters International, 2016a). Pânişoară, et al (2015)
explains communication style as “the set of speech characteristics of a person in the act of
communication--’style’ means specific ways of receiving the message;
interpreting the messages; and specific ways of expressing the response” (p. 203).
Buffalmano (2021) defines communication style as patterns of communication and
interpersonal behavior that people repeat across different social settings.

From the book “The Assertiveness Workbook” (2000) by Randy J. Paterson, the four
basic communication styles were introduced: passive, aggressive, passive-aggressive, and
assertive. The book focuses on developing assertiveness as a communication style and habit,
and helps the readers become more assertive with exercises and diary-keeping (Buffalmano,
2020.) The University of Kentucky Violence Intervention and Prevention Center provided a
resource titled Conf14 Four Comm Styles (2017) where each of the four basic communication
styles were defined and explained as follows:

1. Passive Communication Style is a style in which a person has developed a habit

of avoiding expressing their opinions or feelings, protecting their rights, and
identifying and meeting their needs. As a result, they do not respond to hurtful
situations and instead, allow grievances and nuances to mount. They are usually
unaware of the buildup of emotion inside them, and this makes them prone to
explosive outbursts. After the outburst, they will feel shame, guilt, and confusion
and return to their passiveness;
 13

2. Aggressive Communication Style is when an individual expresses their feelings

and opinions and advocates for their needs in a way that is forceful, to the
extent of violating the rights of others. Thus, they are verbally and/or physically
abusive;
3. A Passive-Aggressive Communication Style is a style when a person appears
passive on the surface but deep inside, they are infuriated. They act out their
anger in a subtle, indirect way. People who have this communication style
usually feel incapable of dealing with their problems and challenges that trigger
their emotions. They express their anger by subtly sabotaging their object of
discontentment whether they are real or imagined; and lastly,

4. Assertive Communication Style is a style of communication in which an individual

clearly states their opinions and feelings. These individuals honor themselves,
their time, and their emotional, physical, and spiritual needs. They are strong
advocates for themselves while being respectful to the rights of others.

Assertive communication style was said to be the ideal or the most effective
communication style (Alvernia University Online, 2018). On the other hand, Mark Murphy, as
cited by Smith-Looper (2020a), wrote in Forbes that no communication style is inherently
better than another, but choosing the wrong style for a particular audience can cause trouble.
Similarly, Smith-Looper (2020b) said that it is not about changing the original communication
style one has but building flexibility around one’s style and making the most out of it is the way
to do things. In line with this, Smith-Looper (2020c) gave a dos and don’ts in dealing with each
of the four communication styles:

1. The best thing to do when coming across a passive communicator is to give them time
to open up and share their concern. Listening to them patiently and asking leading
questions may help them open up. Avoid confrontation by being calm, letting them
continue what they are saying, and never dismiss their concerns;
 14

2. When trying to listen to aggressive communicators, try to understand where they are
coming from. Communicate bluntly and straightforwardly with them. Do not make any
promises that cannot be kept, be honest, and do not take their bluntness personally;
3. Try to understand what is driving the behavior of a passive-aggressive communicator
and remember what role the two sides are playing. Pay attention to how they phrase
their thoughts and to what they are emphasizing because it is most likely their core
issue. Address this issue and speak to them calmly; and
4. Assertive communicators were found to be pretty easy to have conversations with. Do
not waste their time, speak disrespectfully to them, or interrupt them. Even though
these communicators were the ideal communicators, they can still get frustrated just
like the other communicators.
Moreover, these communication styles differ in terms of openness to communication
and respect for others (Buffalmano, 2021). Openness to communication is defined as an
individual’s willingness to open up to another about their thoughts, feelings, past experiences,
and reactions (LDL, 2018a). Both of the aggressive and assertive communicators fall in this
category, as they have a belief that their needs should be heard. However, the two differ in
terms of consideration for others, which is described as an individual’s willingness to recognize
the needs and rights of others (LDL, 2018b). Assertive and passive communicators are the two
styles that consider the rights of others while, on the other hand, passive-aggressive and
aggressive communication styles are low on it.
According to Christian (2019), identifying what communication style to adapt to will help
an individual improve their relationship with other people. Other than that, it can also help you
improve how you share information with others and gain better understanding (Toastmasters
International, 2016b). Hence, the four communication styles were frequently used in studies
related to workplace communication with problems connecting to communication barriers.
 15

Difference in Communication styles as a Communication Barrier in an Organizational Setting

Willkomm from Drexel University said in 2018 that one of the six barriers to effective
communication are surprisingly human--the difference in communication styles among people--
as people find it difficult to communicate with others who rely on different styles. Similarly, the
Economist Intelligence Unit (2018a) reported that the biggest cause of poor communication in a
workplace is the different communication styles among the employees. It has garnered 42%
votes from the respondents (The Economist, 2018b). Their respondents were asked to choose
their three top answers in the survey. Along with different communication styles topping the
choices, the other causes of poor communication are unclear responsibilities (34%), time
pressures (31%), lack of strong leadership (29%), personal differences with colleagues (27%),
and more (The Economist, 2018c). In addition to these, Reigstad (2021) found that gender,
stereotypes, and ageism affect workplace communication and that these same factors play a
role in the communication style of an individual.

The repercussions of poor communication in the workplace were severe to the extent of
causing a delay or failing to complete projects and has led to the loss of thousands of dollars of
sales (The Economist, 2018d). It has also contributed to intangible aspects like stress (52%) and
low morale (31%) among the employees of different ages (The Economist, 2018d).

Communication Styles in Digital Communication

Although face-to-face (F2F) conversations still take the primary role in daily work
communication, its dominance is continuously being replaced by instant messaging, as a result
of the wide adoption of digital communication channels (Schiller & Cui, 2010). The use of digital
forms of communication will not allow an individual to read another’s body language. Due to
this, misconceptions and misunderstandings arise among individuals (Saylor Academy, 2012a).
 16

However, with the usage of emoticons, people can make their point clearer, but, still, people
cannot detect non-verbal cues from written communication (Saylor Academy, 2012b).
In a conference paper by Ramachandiran and Mahmud (2019) about gender-based
communication styles on social media, quantitative results showed that males employ the four
basic communication styles. Moreover, qualitative results from Twitter observations
demonstrated that both male and females exhibit passive-aggressive and assertive traits online
dominantly. From the overall results, it was suggested that the communication styles
stereotypes for the two genders was correct through a small discrepancy--one in three females
conformed to the female stereotype, which is being passive-aggressive; and two out of three
males conformed to the male stereotype, which is aggressiveness and assertiveness.
Nonetheless, all communication styles were still strongly observed in both genders’ way of
interacting and may be attributed to differences in age, culture, and online identity
(Ramachandiran & Mahmud, 2019).

Communication Barriers in Digital Communication

Communication barriers are not limited to organizational settings. There are

communication barriers in digital communication as well despite all the conveniences it has to
offer to people. Girardin (2020a) listed seven communication barriers to digital communication,
and first of which is the physical barrier. Physical barriers include physical distance and other
environmental conditions like time, place, and medium. This can manifest in a way when
there’s no designated time and communication tool for collaboration, there would be
misunderstandings among the group members (Girardin, 2020b). Similarly, emotional or
psychological barriers manifest almost the same way. People can easily misinterpret digital
communication as it does not include vocal inflections, tone of voice, facial expressions, and
body language (Girardin, 2020c).
 17

The third communication barrier is identity barriers, which include gender, racial, ethnic,
class, age, and other personal, social, or cultural identities. Identity barriers can lead to
misrepresentations of people and their ideas (Girardin, 2020d). Likewise, the fourth barrier,
semantic barriers, is about the different interpretations of words and symbols used to
communicate according to one’s own culture, education level, or social status. The fifth barrier,
accessibility barriers, is said to be “often overlooked” according to Girardin (2020e) as digital
communication is effective only “when people of all abilities can access and understand
information”. The sixth barrier, attention barriers, interferes with digital communication when
people are too distracted from giving their full focus on the information they are consuming.
Lastly, credibility barriers manifest when people cannot trust the message, the messenger, or
both and worry about how safe it is to participate in online conversations.

Whether it be in organizational or digital communication, there are various personalities,

experiences, cultures, and motivators that an individual needs to consider to be able to
overcome communication barriers. One way to approach this is to get a clearer picture of a
person’s communication style (Racasan, 2019a). Understanding the communication style of a
person who you do not know well enough will provide context and a framework for
understanding the most effective communication strategies to adapt to (Racasan, 2019b).
Willkomm (2018) supports this, saying that reflection, empathy, and practice will help an
individual hone their communication skills. Also, recognizing and acknowledging an individual’s
mistake keeps the doors open to effective communication (Willkomm, 2018).

The Netizens

Social media significantly changed people’s lives in the modern times. Internet citizen or
netizens, a term coined by Michael Hauben in the 1990s (R. Hauben, 2019), is defined as a
person who uses the internet, and is actively engaging in online discourse about any issues such
as political or social (Dictionary.com, 2017 as cited by Guanah, 2019a). Netizens are not
classified depending on their geographical location but rather they are grouped according to
 18

their common interests, beliefs, and opinions, using the Internet as their medium of
communication (Guanah, 2019b).

Digital Natives, a term coined by Marc Prensky in 2001, in which he described a

generation such as Millennials and Generation Z, who were raised and exposed to technology
since they were young (Halton, 2019). Their exposure to technology has influenced the way
they think and process information that is different from other generations that he called
“digital immigrants” (Moran, 2016). On the other hand, Kamau, Khamasi, and Kosgey (2016)
argued that despite the fact that many young users grew up in this era of technology, their
knowledge and understanding about how they should use it to share information is lacking.

As Johansen (2019a) states that following a guide for internet use is necessary when
using and engaging in cyberspace. The internet etiquette or the word “netiquette” was formed
in the 1980s that means “etiquette governing communication on the internet” as defined by
Merriam Webster (n.d). There is a grave repercussion when social media netiquettes are
breached, such as cyberbullying, “negative digital footprint”, and other toxic online behavior
(Johansen, 2019b). While a person can post everything on social media with an ease, Lam (2020)
points out that it will stay on the internet forever. Once it is shared online and screenshotted by
someone, it will definitely spread and can be still seen several years after the post was made.

The Etymology and Practice of Cancel Culture

Meredith D. Clark (2020a), an assistant professor in the Department of Media

Studies at the University of Virginia, said that “Cancel culture” originated from the Black
counter publics, who gave early examples of discursive accountability practices such as
reading, dragging, calling out, and canceling. Some of the most used mediated processes
are blacklisting and boycotting, however, the two are limited both in scope and
effectiveness by factors of structural power, time, and access to resources (Clark, 2020b).
Black Twitter—the meta-network of culturally connected communities on the said
microblogging site (Clark, 2015)— was said to be the mastermind of making the word
“canceled” into an internet meme (Shifman, 2013 as cited in Clark, 2020d).
 19

On the contrary, Romano (2019) wrote in Vox that cancel culture has roots in early-
2010s Tumblr blogs notably Your Fave is Problematic, a blog where fandoms discuss why
their favorite celebrities are imperfect. Greenspan (2020) reports in Insider that cancel
culture came into the collective consciousness around 2017.

According to Beiner (2020a), cancel culture is a tactic of attempting to erase

someone from a public discourse either through public shaming, de-platforming, or
demanding their companies or agencies to fire them. Cancel culture is the manifestation of
“wokeism.” Wokeism is “an ideology that views reality as socially constructed and defined
by power, oppression and group identity” (Beiner, 2020b).

Cancel culture has become part of digital culture, primarily targeted against public
figures who do not follow the acceptability of societal rules (Velasco, 2020b). To Bromwich
(2018a), it is an act of withdrawing from someone whose expression – whether political,
artistic, or otherwise – was once tolerated, but no longer is. In a similar manner, Professor
Nakamura notes that cancelling someone is a form of “cultural boycott” (Bromwich, 2018b).
Despite the differences in meaning, cancelling someone is almost the same as calling
someone out because call out culture, on the other hand, is fueled by the need to claim the
higher moral ground (Spratt, 2018a). In effect, cancel culture highlights the dearth of
considered assessments and debate (Ng, 2020). The problem here is not the cancel culture
itself, but the blurring of its importance with harsh words and shutting further
conversations down (Spratt, 2018b). On the contrary, some researchers believe that cancel
culture is a positive thing to happen to humanity. Anthropologist Richard Wrangham said
that this is how civilization advances (mentioned by Brooks, 2019). Brooks (2019) agreed to
it and believes that cancel culture gets the job done, even if it is rough justice. Another
point was made by Natalie Pang from the National University of Singapore, who argued that,
because of cancel culture, marginalized voices are now heard, and discourses are now less
dominated by individuals who are in the positions of power and privilege (Lim, 2020).
 20

Impact of Cancel Culture

Friedersdorf (2017a) from The Atlantic has posed a question “Were college students
better off before social media?” to gain a better understanding of how digital
communications affect campus life. He received a lot of emails and inquiries about this and
has managed to know stories about undergraduate students’ experience of being cancelled
or fearing being cancelled on social media. One of them wrote: “I probably hold back 90
percent of the things that I want to say due to fear of being called out.”

This fear has grown among the undergraduate students to the point of a chilling
effect among them. A student at the Claremont Colleges described the chilling effect this
way: “I'd say that most people here quickly become sufficiently familiar with social justice
culture that they are able to avoid involuntarily doing things that would get them called
out...” (Friedersdorf, 2017b). However, even with this fear, the students still find themselves
wanting to keep up on what is currently happening in social media. Roberts (2020a) said
that there is a human need to belong, and it is an innate drive that dictates people’s
behavior. Just like one of the emails sent to Friedersdorf (2017c), a student said:

“I actively try to keep up on opinion articles posted on Facebook and other social
media sites, as well as statuses by friends, so that I can be caught up with the trends and
not appear to be ignorant or outdated among my peers…”

In Roberts’ The Social Media Party: Fear of Missing Out (FoMO), Social MediaIntensity,
Social Connection, and Well-Being (2020b), he investigated the relationship among FoMO,
social media intensity, and social connection using The BelongingnessHypothesis and
Information Foraging Theory. Results found that FoMO has positive association with social
media intensity but is negatively associated with social connection. However, FoMO has a
positive indirect effect on social connection through social media intensity. This suggests that
FoMO may, in some cases, be a good thing leading to enhanced social connection. So, the
 21

students who still strive to keep uponthe current events on social media may just want to keep
the social connection due to FoMO. Just like what one of the students wrote to Friedersdorf
(2017c):

“I think that students, myself included, have somehow worked social media into our
everyday lives so much that, whether we realize it or not, it effects us mentally, physically, and
emotionally,” the student added. “Without it, many would probably feel empty … even like
their life doesn’t have a purpose …like they're disconnected from everything.”

Social media personality and influencer Cat Arambulo-Antonio

The number of social media influencers continue to increase as their platforms

garner thousands to millions of followers on social media (Hazell, 2019). According to
Fastenau (2018), influencers usually build their reputation, polish their credibility, make
themselves attractive, and relatable to their crowd. These personalities and influencers are
expected to be true, genuine, and trustworthy and this has become the personal mantra of
Cat Arambulo-Antonio. (Williams, 2019a).

Cat Arambulo-Antonio is an “outspoken blogger, social media personality, and

entrepreneur” (Williams, 2019b). Cat Arambulo-Antonio was a brand ambassador for
Chopard Swiss Luxury Watches then became the PR head for Embassy Club and Cafe
(Faustino-Montenegro, 2014a). After being married to the CEO and President of Century
Properties, Carlo Antonio, Cat chose to be a stay-at-home mother, blogger, and writer for
Philippine Daily Inquirer (Faustino-Montenegro, 2014b). In 2019, She was listed as an
honouree for Gen.T List. Cat was the first Filipino judge on Asia’s longest running reality TV
show, Star World’s The Apartment, and was the official Philippine representative for Merz
Aesthetic’s global campaign (Gen.T List, 2019a). She has created fruitful collaborations with
 22

brands locally and internationally, has launched a fragrance with VV & Co., and has her own
jewellery line named Vibe Collection (Gen.T List, 2019b).

The Stay-at-home issue of Cat Arambulo

Cat Arambulo-Antonio, in an article by Williams (2019c) on The Tatler, says:

“I speak my mind with no filter. I stay true to myself and take full responsibility
for everything that I say and do…”

Cat Arambulo-Antonio remained true to her words and in 2020, her honest and
unfiltered words were taken against her. From an Inquirer.net article by Guno (2020),
Twitter user @darnitJC recorded Cat Arambulo-Antonio’s Instagram stories and tweeted it
with the caption:

“ "God why don't you motherf*ckers just stay at home"

she said to WORKERS BEING ARRESTED while watching her 52 inch TV SAFE AND
SECURE at home.

fkn text INFLUENCERS STOP and SEND to 8080!!!

ang kakapal nyo hoy. wala KAMING PERA AT SEGURIDAD TULAD NYO”

In the video, Arambulo-Antonio was ranting about the crowds in checkpoint while
being manned by military personnel (Guno, 2020a), she specifically said:

“Why don’t you motherf*ckers just stay at home, stay at home? Don’t you guys
get it? Tigas ng ulo (Hard-headed). This is exactly why they need the military
because you f*ckers won’t stay at home. Guys come on!” (Guno, 2020b)
 23

Cat Arambulo-Antonio apologized the same day she was being cancelled. In a
news report by ABS-CBN (2020a), Cat’s apology was in the form of a tweet and a
screenshot of her message typewritten in Notes app. The tweet was captioned
“Namaste” with a praying emoji and the message on the notes app was:

“Hi everyone, I would like to apologize for the harsh words I’ve used in my IG story
at a very sensitive time like this. it’s just so frustrating to see that some people
who have the option to stay home are still not following the gov’t’s efforts. Hope
that we can all help in any way that we can—especially to our frontliners who are
working to keep us safe. Again, I’m sorry for how it sounded like but do know I
only have the best intentions—our collective safety and that this will end soon.
Namaste (praying emoji) -Cat”

In a report by Aquino (2020a) for GMAnetwork.com, Cat posted another apology

in a form of a video post on Instagram stories, saying:

"I'm really really sorry to have to take it out on social media. But that outburst was
a reflection of how I really [feel] about people not listening to the government. At
this point in time, honestly, people should really lock down and contain the virus.

I'm not saying and referring to the frontliners out there that really need to get to
work. But what I'm saying is the people that are pasaway and not following.

I mean honestly, everyone's affected right now. The only way we could contain
this is by staying home. It's so sad because we don't have enough hospital beds.
We don't have enough frontliners out there to actually help everyone else out
there that are in need. Our hospitals can collapse.
The real purpose of that message was directed to people who aren't listening. So
please, I sincerely apologize if people were affected... Right now, it's really a state
of panic for everyone.”
 24

On the next day, March 18, 2020, Cat apologized again for her “insensitive” rant
against workers who got stranded as the government implemented a lockdown. She
tweeted “I’M SO SORRY. (crying emoji)” with a screenshot of her apology message
written on Notes app that said:

“In all humility and sincerity, I would like to apologize for being insensitive. I didn’t
mean to undermine anyone—hurt and offend everyone. I should have been more
considerate of others who are trying to cope with this crisis. My apologies, too, to
the names and brands who got affected. This was a hard lesson for me and I will
use this to educate myself and strive to be better. Hoping for your forgiveness and
I will try to do whatever I can to help. I’m so very sorry.” (ABS-CBN News, 2020b)

Through technology innovation and the continuous flourishing of our social

media networks, communication will always evolve and adapt to our needs. Along with
this, the multifaceted social media will always have its pros and cons (Hanke,2020). As
the cancel culture fad continues to take over the internet, this will always be a debate
whether it is a win or lose situation—achievement of providing justice or creation of a
toxic cyberspace (Sprat,2018). In analyzing context, language, and communication
patterns used in controversial Cat Arambulo’s “Stay at home” issue, cancel culture’s
prevalence and semantics will be fully understood and how people communicate their
concept.

Previous studies have focused on the awareness of the emergence of cancel

culture, visual communication, and advantages and disadvantages of cancel culture. In
this research, it will focus on the communication styles of the netizens who participated
in cancel culture on social media platforms, specifically on Facebook and Twitter,
through analyzing the contents of the collected tweets and comments relevant to Cat
Arambulo Stay at home issue.
 25

Synthesis

The technology significantly revamped today's communication and information

dissemination, as it continues to supplement the needs of people to interact and
connect to the world. Along with the emergence of innovations such as the Internet, it
started to revolutionize how people connect using these advancements like social media
(Willis, 2017; Alhabash & Ma, 2017). With the emergence of these platforms, social
media provides a limitless reach and endless possibilities as it continues to develop
through time--it will persistently adjust and caters to the needs of the people. It will
progress as our medium to converse, but challenges and disadvantages will be
inevitable, compromising the quality of communication (Miyamoto et al., 2021)

With the abundance in the number of users, social media is a large virtual
community that finds its commonalities despite diversity. Among their differences is
their communication style, which is significant in conversing with other people and has a
massive impact in strengthening people's relationships on the Internet. Determining the
communication styles of a person or a group will also improve your communication skill
in adjusting to a complex conversation and prevent the risk of misunderstanding due to
communication barriers.

Using internet etiquettes or netiquettes will help to guide its users in creating a
healthy digital community. Failure to comply with netiquettes and continuous display of
toxic behavior will eventually lead to grave repercussions such as cyberbullying,
compromising mental health, beauty and body standards, and involvement to cancel
culture. In the pervasiveness of these destructive exploits, one can either be an attacker
or a victim of these acts. Cancel culture is one of the most rampant toxic social media
trends today. Initially, to serve as a movement to call out the perpetrators and offensive
opinions and action, this has become a "double-edged" sword as it can be both
 26

damaging and might be helpful at the same time. Many celebrities and personalities
have been exposed to their wrongful actions and were held accountable for it. Still,
some people have been wrongfully sentenced for something trivial or without any
strong basis.

With the rise in the number of personalities and ordinary people being
victimized by cancel culture, there are some points where the chilling effect is highly
evident in digital communities. There would be a high in the number of netizens that
might engage in the discourse; hence the cancel culture might be an unhealthy way of
correcting someone since there is a need for someone to win and have a superior
position among others. It could recognize and deter repressive conduct, but it doesn't
promote healthy discourse and give a chance to the suppressor to change or learn
properly (Spratt, 2018).

The recent issue of Cat Arambulo Antonio's tone-deaf remarks towards the poor
people going out during Enhanced Community Quarantine has drawn flak to the
netizens. They quickly reacted to Arambulo's Instagram story and were quickly re-
uploaded to various social media platforms after the story was deleted. Her career and
brand endorsements were compromised as netizens rushed to post their reactions
online.

The communication style seen on Cat Arambulo's Stay at home issue showed the
distinctive feature of Cancel Culture. While there are different communication styles in
engaging in discussions and conversation, it is crucial to identify each other's differences
to have efficient communication and avoid exhibiting toxic social media behavior. By
identifying communication style differences, both parties are able to accommodate to
meet halfway.
 27

Research Gap

The concept of cancel culture is a novel issue that has been circulating the
internet. While the media discuss this new phenomenon, some articles highlighted the
pros and cons of cancel culture and its effects on the digital community (Friedersforf,
2017; Beiner, 2020; Clark, 2020). There are only articles discussing cancel culture, and
the studies about the topic mainly focus on social justice, campaigns, digital media
participation, and its outcomes. Also, in the previous studies, communication styles are
only discussed in organizations, families, relationships, and workplaces. Since social
media has been the most common medium for communication, it is vital to analyze the
netizens' communication styles on how they communicate online, as it was the main
medium of communication today. While phenomena like Cancel culture is an issue .
With the limited number of studies of the topic, this study will aim to identify the
communication styles of the netizens based on the discourse features that characterize
the cancelling of Cat Arambulo-Antonio and analyze the communication styles in terms
of openness to communication and consideration for others. This study may open
opportunities for the other researchers to explore more about communication styles in
other phenomena present on social media and also discuss deeply about cancel culture
in terms of power relations.
 28

Theoretical Framework

The theoretical underpinning of this study is the Symbolic Interaction Theory

proposed by George Herbert Mead and other several reputable theorists. This theory
which is also known as symbolic interactionism is heavily influenced by Max Weber; in
which he asserts that “individuals act according to their interpretation of the meaning in
their world” (Crossman, 2020). This theory explains that the object, events, or even
behaviors do not have intrinsic denotations, but rather meanings were created based on
people’s interpretations, experiences, and own beliefs. Thus, meanings were created
depending on how people interpret what they have communicated from others; as
human interactions are one of the primary influences on a person’s understanding of
concepts and meanings.

In this theory, it tackles how communication styles of cancel culture heavily

affects people to interpret meanings about what they have seen on the internet.
According to Redman (2015), symbols are a representation of things that creates a
prompt to perceive the definition of things. Language, a form of “collection of symbols”,
is required in being able to communicate, exchange information, and
interact. Interactionist pointed out that communication is the origin of all information.
While language development is inevitable, meanings may vary depending on the culture,
age, generation, and their origins. Hence, meanings can be interpreted by different
people depending on the given contexts. According to Mead (as cited in Aksan et. al.,
2009), society is a product of “mind and ego” and symbols improve the mind for
interaction and thinking.

According to Herbert Blumer, one of the proponents of symbolic interaction

theory and the one who coined the term, there are three propositions wherein Symbolic
interaction were based on (as cited in Aksan et. al., 2009): “humans develop their
 29

attitudes towards things according to the meanings that things propose to them; these
meanings are inferred from the “interaction of one of them from its addressees”; these
meanings change within an interpretive process”.

In this study, the language used in cancel culture will be seen as symbols, which
people perceive as a prompt for discussion and exchange of thoughts. When patterns
are recognized and meanings are interpreted, people will engage into the discourse to
share their reactions and information as a contribution to the conversation depending
on their interpreted meanings and experiences. This will show that these shared
meanings will mold a person’s self-perception and how they will act or react.

Moreover, the study is anchored on the Communication Styles Quadrant

developed by Buffalmano (2021a) based on The Assertiveness Workbook (2000) by
Randy J. Paterson, Ph.D., the creator of the four basic communication styles. This
quadrant will be used as a basis in determining the netizens’ communication styles and
analyzing their communication style in terms of openness to communication and
consideration for others.

The passive communication style has always been linked to the symbolism of a
“doormat” (Buffalmano, 2021b) because people with this communication style are not
open to communication but have high consideration for others. Passive communicators’
goal is to avoid conflict and let others take control, which is the opposite with the
aggressive communication style. This style has low consideration to others yet
communicates their thoughts and opinions openly. Aggressive communicators’ common
belief is that their needs and contributions are more important and valuable than others
(Paterson, 2000a).

The mix of the two aforementioned communication styles, the passive-

aggressive communication style, is placed in low openness to communication with low
respect to others. This means that these communicators have similar looks with passive
 30

communicators as they are not open to communication as well. However, they do that
because they do not value nor respect others at all and they believe that they are
entitled to do things in their own way, without holding themselves accountable for their
actions (Paterson, 2000b). Lastly, assertive communicators have high openness to
communication and high consideration for others. These people assert their boundaries
with respect to others and hold themselves accountable for their behavior. This
communication style was said to be the ideal communication style among the four as it
develops win-win situation for everyone involved in the communication (Buffalmano,
2021c)

Figure 1. Communication Styles Quadrant (Buffalmano, 2021)

 31

Conceptual Framework

The figure below explains the flow of how the communication styles of the
netizens would be described in this research. The biggest bubble, where all the variables
are placed, represents the scope of this study, which is Cat Arambulo-Antonio’s “Stay-
at-home” issue. The researchers will determine the discourse features in the netizens’
tweets cancelling Cat Arambulo-Antonio. Through this, the communication styles of the
netizens’ will be identified and analyzed in terms of their openness to communication
and consideration for others.

Figure 2. Conceptual framework of the study

Cancel culture will feature communication styles, which netizens use in engaging
the internet discourse. Tweets made by netizens usually contain specific patterns that
people usually recognize that drive them to engage in discourse. As cancel culture
 32

continues to become a phenomenon in social media, it has become distinct to social

media users on what are the signs when someone is being cancelled or about to be
cancelled.

Among the tweets of the netizens, the researchers will determine the four basic
communication styles with the help of Cuncic’s (2020) brief explanation of how each of
the communication styles manifests in the way people communicate. When someone is
a passive communicator, they beat around the bush or do a lot of hintings; they choose
to avoid discussions; and their words are apologetic and exudes lack of self-
confidence. When someone is an aggressive communicator, they overly criticize
others; they humiliate the other person; they attempt to dominate; and they use “you”
statements or overly blame someone else. A passive-aggressive communicator uses
sarcasm; subtly sabotages their own point; talks about another person behind their back;
and uses a lot of “but”s to exempt themselves from getting accountable (i.e. “but that’s
just me!”). Lastly, an assertive communicator expresses their thoughts clearly,
respectfully, and appropriately; uses “I” statements”; and expresses their empathy
towards the situation or the person.
 CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the data gathering methods that the researchers will use in
addressing the research objectives. All necessary information on research design, research
locale, sampling design, instrumentation, data gathering procedure, and data analysis are
discussed in this section.

Research Design

This study adopts a descriptive research design that uses both quantitative and
qualitative approaches to determine the communication styles made by Twitter Netizens
towards Cat Arambulo-Antonio’s Stay at Home issue in their tweets. According to McCombes
(2020), using descriptive research design is the most suitable in describing a population,
situation, or phenomenon since it seeks to answer questions of what, where, when, and how.
Descriptive research measures the observed variables and does not necessarily need to be
influenced or changed.
Using this approach will help address the research questions and the objectives of the
study. Researchers will identify the communication styles of the Twitter netizens who
participated in Cancelling Cat Arambulo-Antonio and describe how netizens communicated
their message, their openness in communicating, and their consideration for others.
 34

Research Locale

The locale of this study is virtual since the Cat Arambulo-Antonio “stay-at-home”
issue happened in social media platforms. Twitter is the main source of data for this
study as it is the social networking site where the screen-recorded Instagram story of
Cat Arambulo-Antonio was first posted and where she was cancelled.

Sampling Design

In this study, the researchers will use the purposive sampling technique.
Purposive sampling is defined by Lavrakas (2008) as a type of non-probability sampling
that aims to select participants based on their characteristics and the qualities they
possess that are necessary to obtain the needed information for the research. This
sampling technique is an effective design to purposely select, in this case, tweets made
by netizens who engaged in the ‘Stay at home’ issue of Cat Arambulo-Antonio.
To gather the data, the researchers will select tweets that were a reaction
towards the Cat Arambulo issue:
1. Netizens provided a clear and insightful context of what issue they are
commenting or tweeting to; and
2. Netizens constructed a comment or tweet that addressed the issue itself
and no other extraneous topics (e.g., person’s physical appearance)
The target data of this study are those tweets posted dating from March 17,
2020, the date when Cat Arambulo-Antonio posted the video, up until March 30, 2020,
when the number of tweets posted decreased in number.
 35

Instrumentation

The researchers are the main instrument for this study. They will manually mine
Twitter tweets cancelling Cat Arambulo-Antonio for the “stay at home” issue to ensure
that the content of the discourse is within the scope of the study.

Data Gathering Procedure

In collecting the data, the researchers will be using data mining. According to
Castellani B. & Castellani J. (2003), data mining is a data-driven and investigative process
of finding knowledge from large and complex databases. Data mining is the chosen data
collection technique for this study because the researchers will be collecting
unstructured data manually from large and complex databases that are Twitter . In an
article by IBM Cloud Education (2020), 80% of data in the world is presented in an
unstructured format due to the domination of social media. The unstructured data that
this study will need are tweets from Twitter relevant to the Cat Arambulo-Antonio issue.
Since this study will be using unstructured data, the data mining technique that
will be used is text mining. Text mining is the process of extracting useful information
from document collections through the identification and exploration of interesting
patterns (Feldman & Sanger, 2007 as cited in Yu et al., 2011).
The researchers will search on Twitter the terms “Cat Arambulo”; “Cat
Arambulo-Antonio”; “stay at home, you m*****f******”; “Cat Arambulo is cancelled”,
and other terms that are relevant to Arambulo-Antonio’s “stay at home” issue. Tweets
on the Cat issue will be extracted manually. After which, weeding of the unnecessary
tweets will be done to ensure that the text to be analyzed contains the features of the
emerging cancel culture.
 36

Data Analysis

To analyze the data, the researchers will use content analysis. Content analysis is
a method of gathering, analyzing, and categorizing the content associated with
psychological constructs without preconceptions (Yu et al., 2011). According to Luo
(2021), content analysis can be used in both quantitative and qualitative since the words,
themes, and concepts within the texts will be categorized or “coded” and then the
results will be interpreted and analyzed.

The discourse features of the tweets will be analyzed using syntactic and
semantic analysis. Emoticons and GIFs will be analyzed according to the expression they
convey and will aid in identifying the meaning behind the texts and their communication
style. Repeated readings of the text will be performed to determine the meaning of the
text and to reveal the communication style that the comments made by the netizens
suggest. Their communication style may be passive (i.e. indirect), aggressive (i.e.
dominating, critical), passive-aggressive (i.e. sarcastic), or assertive (i.e. direct, with an
“I” attitude).

After identifying the netizens’ communication style, they will be classified

according to their openness to communication and consideration for others based on
the indicators of each of the communication styles. They may be high on openness to
communication and high on consideration for others when they have an assertive style;
high on openness to communication but low on consideration for others when they are
aggressive communicators; low on openness to communication but high on
consideration for others when they are passive; and low on both openness to
communication and consideration for others when they are passive-aggressive.
 37

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