Skripsi - Nurcholis Ilman Panai

Running head: Politeness Strategies in YouTube Comments
POLITENESS STRATEGIES IN YOUTUBE COMMENT IN WILL SMITH
SLAPS CHRIS ROCK AT OSCARS 2022
Nurcholis Ilman Panai
321418001
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LETTERS AND CULTURE
UNIVERSITAS NEGERI GORONTALO
2024
Politeness Strategies in YouTube Comments
2
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter contains the basic information about this study. Including the
background of the study, research questions, aim of the study, and significance of
the study. All of these will be discussed below.
Background of Study
Many factors could influence how we communicate with each other, it
could be social factors, the condition of mentality, and others. One of which is
affected is how polite we are, which was argued to be crucial by Pangestuti
(2015), showing politeness is crucial because it can help reduce the interruption in
social interactions.
It is in line with the politeness theory of Brown & Levinson (1978), which
construed politeness as efforts on redressing the affronts to a person's self-esteem
by effectively claiming positive social values in social interactions. Given its
powerful role in social interactions, showing politeness is a necessity to have a
healthy social life. Politeness is necessary in order for the message that is
conveyed to be received and replied to positively. As a result in social
interactions, both the speaker and the hearer convey their ideas through polite
utterances.
According to Brown & Levinson (1987), people want to be appreciated or
their self-image to not be threatened or avoided by others. The concept of face in

3
this case is not only the speaker or the hearer, but also the sense of social public
image in society of trying not to be embarrassed or humiliated of ‘losing face’.
Face as the public image of people are desired to be respected in social
interactions. Everyone has a face, which according to Brown & Levinson (1987),
has two forms; positive and negative. Positive face is when the action done by the
person is to be desirable to others or at least some others. Negative face on the
other hand is for the action done by a person to be unimpeded by others.
Politeness is an attitude used in communicating that aims to minimize
conflict and maximize compatibility between speaker and partners in a
conversation by considering individual and group values (Lakoff, 1989).
Politeness itself has a different meaning with polite. The word of polite means to
show respect for the speech partner, while the word politeness means the language
(or behaviour) based on social distance between the speaker and the speech
partner.
The theory of politeness strategies are described by Brown and Levinson
(1987, p.68-69) as an act to avoid face-threatening-act or FTA in social
interactions. It explains that there are certain strategies that can be used to
minimize the threats or to save the face of the speakers and the hearers. These
strategies are also used in social media conversations. People may publish
anything on social media, and everyone has the ability to remark or express their
thoughts on it. YouTube is one of the social media platforms that allows users to
leave comments.
4
YouTube is a video-sharing website that has grown in popularity as a
source of information and entertainment. Viewers have a wide range of reactions
and perspectives to the many sorts of content provided by various types of
individuals. All of the responses and opinions are then gathered in the video's
comment area. Given that the comment box is a public forum for individuals to
express their views, it's safe to assume that everyone who viewed the same video
will be able to read the remark and express their reaction or opinion. As a result,
freedom of expression encourages people to dispute as openly as possible,
increasing the likelihood of impolite statements (FTA).
Will Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars 2022 is a video of the famous
actor Will Smith slapping Chris Rock for his joke about Will's wife Jada Pinkett
Smith, which was released by the channel Entertainment Tonight. This then
grabbed the internet by storm, with everyone having their own view and debating
who is right or wrong in the video's comment area, perhaps leading to a slew of
FTA.
Based on the researcher’s observation of the comment section, there are
two different opinions about Will Smith being wrong for being offended of a joke
and slapping Chris Rock at a big event like the Oscars, and Will Smith being a
good husband for defending his wife. This difference in opinion is what could
lead to FTA and is what triggers the researcher to look more into the topic and
analyze what are the politeness strategies being used in the comment of the Will
Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars 2022 video.

5
One of the politeness strategies that is found in the comment section of the
video is positive politeness in a comment from a user named “qopoy dnon” that
stated “Legends say Chris Rick is still smiling to this day”. The comment is
categorized as positive politeness strategy because one of the types of positive
politeness strategy is using jokes, and the comment is a joke referring to the
incident that happened in the video between Will Smith and Chris Rock.
Surpringly from the researcher’s brief observation, this type of politeness strategy
is the most dominant politeness strategy in the comment section, which perhaps
show the tendency of politeness strategy used in social media.
Such research regarding the usage of politeness strategies have also been
done by other researchers. Pangestuti (2015), conducted a research on the
politeness strategies used by Deddy Corbuzier as he hosted his talkshow ‘Hitam
Putih’. The research was done by observing how the host communicate to the
guest and compare the difference between politeness strategies used to entertainer
and non-entertainer guest. The research gives great reference on how politeness
strategies are used in communication, however this research only portray the
usage of politeness strategies in real world communication where the people
communicating are face to face. On the other hand, the current research intends to
unveil how politeness strategies are used in an online platform, specifically in the
comment section of a viral YouTube video of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at
the Oscars 2022.
The researcher believes that this research is necessary in order to
comprehend how people communicate changes over time and through different
6
media. The way people communicate today is different from how it is done in the
past. Something that might be considered as impolite in the past might not be
viewed the same today and vice versa, the word ‘Negro’ for example in the past
was used commonly to refer to a certain human race, but now saying the “N”
word is considered rude and disrespectful if it is being said by a different race of
human being. The emergence of technology has also definitely brought changes in
how people communicate, with social media people can communicate without
seeing face to face anonymously which can decrease the risk of FTA and make
people less reluctant to commit FTA.
Therefore, based on the explanation above, the researcher desires to find
out about the politeness strategies that are used in the comments of the video
mentioned above to help us better understand the use of politeness strategies
especially through an online platform, in this case the comment of a controversial
video.
Research Question
Based from the background previously explained, to shed a light on how
politeness are practiced in online social interactions, specifically YouTube. The
researcher intended to study with the following research question : What are the
types and meaning of politeness strategies used in the comment section of the
“Will Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars 2022” video ?.

7
Objective of the Research
This research is conducted to shed a light on the politeness strategies used
in the comment section of the “Will Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars 2022”
video. The data will be collected from comments taken from the top comments
and will be interpreted and analyzed to later be presented in a table. The data on
the table will later be explained in detail, and a conclusion will be drawn from the
findings.
Scope and Limitation of the Research
This research focuses only on the politeness strategies used in the
comment section of the “Will Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars 2022”.
Specifically, the comments that will be taken as data will be a few of the top 50
comments considering the possibility of always increasing amount of comments
over time. Moreover, the researcher decided to put the limitation in terms of the
theory that is used to analyze the politeness strategies by only using the theory
proposed by Brown and Levinson (1978). They had stated that “a face-bearing
rational agent will tend to utilize the FTA-minimizing strategy according to a
rational assessment of the face risk to participants”. In addition, they linked the
politeness strategies to four discussions: Positive politeness, Negative politeness,
Bald on record, and Bald off record. They provide the definition of politeness
from the speaker and hearers face, which focus on the politeness, that determines
of choosing politeness strategies to avoid the face risk or losing face. The
researcher used this theory because Brown and Levinson’s theory is the most used
8
theory in research on politeness. Therefore, there is an abundance of references
available to help the researcher support and strengthen the result of the research
conducted. In short, this research only focuses on politeness strategies used in the
top comments of “Will Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars 2022” youtube video
using the theory proposed by Brown and Levinson.
Significance of the Research
This research gives both theoretical and practical contributions to the
readers. Theoritacally it contributes in giving basic theories of pragmatic in terms
of observing the language and its meaning. It is useful for understanding the
language that has implicit meaning, which is uttered by the speaker and
interpreted by the hearer or audience. Furthermore, the theory of politeness will
enlight people on how important politeness is in building a harmonious social
interaction.
Practically, this research is useful for everyone especially to future
researchers or students to learn about pragmatics or even general linguistics that
are used in social media or other online social platforms, also for them to practice
it in their social life in order to have a healthy social life. The understanding of the
importance of politeness will educate and guide people on how to behave politely
through their utterances and help them attain a polite and cooperative social
interaction. Especially for the researcher himself and his comrades and other
readers majoring in the same field of language education. It can be implemented
on how they educate others after their graduation by using the proper politeness
9
strategy to avoid FTA or negative response from the students to help them learn
comfortably. Therefore, they can determine the appropriate way to use language
to convey message in speech situation which contains greeting elements, address,
context, speech, time, and place (Leech G. , 2014).

10
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, the researcher provides several overviews of politeness in
which are related to the purpose of the research. The overviews are related to the
politeness strategies that are used in the comment section of the video uploaded by
Entertainment Tonight. In general, the topic has big discussions in many
overviews, but the researcher focuses on the discussion of politeness strategy in
pragmatics.
Pragmatic
The definition of Pragmatic and Semantic are both mostly discussing
topics that are related to language. Semantic discussion concerns the discussion of
the dyadic relation and how the language are used. Pragmatics on the other hand is
a linguistic field with a study of the relative of language meaning, as
communication tools used by the speaker and interpreted by the hearer in
particular situations. It moots on analyzing what the speakers mean in their
utterances and involves the interpretation of what people said in particular
context.
According to Mey (1993), “Pragmatics is the science of language seen in relation
to its users. Thus pragmatic is the process of producing language and in its
producers, not only in the end product language”. The speakers have to see the
condition and to whom they interact to adjust their utterances to be appropriate
and suitable.
11
One of the concepts of pragmatic is politeness, according to Paputungan
(2020), the phenomena of politeness does not necessarily concerns the way the
message is delivered. But also the real life situation concept towards politeness
and the message interpretation. It happens in real life since it reflects the human
life in the community.
However, the rapid technological development has opened new doors for
communication through social media. Therefore creating a new space for
pragmatics in terms of learning to convey the meaning of messages in online non
face to face communication.
Politeness
Human behavior by definition is either polite or impolite. People are less
likely to take offense or change their faces during communication or social
contact when consideration of others' feelings is taken into account Pragmatically,
politeness can be understood as the speaker making courteous requests in order to
perform activities in the community, which are typically met with approval. It is
intended to avoid creating any distortion or irreconcilable sensation of menace
toward the listeners. Politeness in communication means, People try to maintain a
good discussion with their partner by not misinterpreting or distorting the other
person's words in an impolite way (Leech G. N., 1983).
There are multiple definitions of the term politeness. One of the definition
is: "marked by an appearance of consideration, tact, deference, or courtesy."
Although politeness is not directly the synonym of behavior, both are mostly
12
related. Therefore, politeness is needed for the sake of a good communication, so
the communication will pay attention to the idea of politeness and the social
differences that impacts politeness in the communicative language (English
Oxford Dictionary).
As a result, people communicate politely more often as it is very
influential to the feedback of the communication. The concept of politeness as
discussed in the pragmatic field tells about the concept of being polite to keep a
safe face. Brown and Levinson (1987, p. 61) states that, face is an image of people
in social interaction, of being embarrassed and humiliated in norms of losing face
in the society, which can be expressed through communication that might be lost,
maintained and attained.
Everyone has a ‘face’, there are two types of faces; positive and negative
face. Face is a tag that adheres to every individual depending on their actions in
the social interactions they have in the community. Everyone’s face wants to be
respected and valued by everyone in the social interactions. Therefore, it needs the
Face-Threatening-Acts to avoid conflict and maintain the face that is desired.
However, online communication provides the abilty to communicate to
each other anonymously by choice, so everyone online may choose to risk their
face or not. This behaviour could impact someone’s choice of politeness because
there could be no risk of losing face, which all in all making politeness online
different than politeness in face to face communication.

13
Face Threatening Act
The concept of face as the image of the person, is suggested by Brown
and Levinson (1987, p. 65), who gives assumptions of face. They argue that,
there are several kinds of acts that intrinsically can be applied to threat the
people’s face. Those acts are face threatening acts (FTAs), which challenges
the face wanted by the person who takes part in a communication, that may
threaten either the speaker and the hearer’s face or might threaten either the
positive and the negative face. FTA is the act needed in minimizing the possibility
of people’s face to threat the speaker and the hearer’s face.
The strategies for doing FTAs, described by Brown and Levinson
(1987, p. 68), as the acts of threats the hearer’s needs to avoid to minimize the
threat to his/her self-image. There are two ways of acts to maintain or protect
the face, those are the speaker’ face and the hearer’s face. These two ways
which argues that people’s responses would possibly use the notion of face
respected as behavior provides by the society. Brown and Levinson suggest
five politeness strategies that could be used by the speakers such as, bald on
record strategy, with positive politeness, with negative politeness, by going
off record, and by not doing the face threatening act (FTA)
Politeness Strategies
The exploration of politeness theory refers to a common theory known as
politeness theory by Brown & Levinson (1978, p. 91) for doing the FTAs. They
had stated that “a face-bearing rational agent will tend to utilize the FTA-
14
minimizing strategy according to a rational assessment of the face risk to
participants”. In addition, they linked the politeness strategies to four
discussions: Positive politeness, Negative politeness, Bald on record, and Bald off
record. They provide the definition of politeness from the speaker and hearers
face, which focus on the politeness, that determines of choosing politeness
strategies to avoid the face risk or losing face.
Bald On Record Strategy
Direct strategies are the strategies that used between two close people in
daily life conversation. Not only on that case, but also if the speaker is in a
position more powerful than the hearer, this strategy mostly appear in the
communication between people who have close relationship in time such as
friends or family. However, the bald on record strategy is defined to two classes
where the first is not minimized or ignored, and second where the speaker
minimize the face treats by implication (Brown & Levinson, 1987, pp. 95-99).
Case of non-minimization of face threat

In certain cases, where non-minimization is occurred, the speaker and
hearer face is not redress in urgency. The speaker does not need being polite
to avoid doing the FTAs, thus there is no redress is required. For example;
Help!, Get up!, careful!, Watch out!, come home now!, etc.
Case of FTA-oriented bald on record usage
In another situation, the case of avoiding face also involves in mutual
interaction. This would happen in the invitation or welcoming person in
greetings that required FTA orientation. For example; sit down, come in, go,
leave it, let me do, all right, etc.
Positive Politeness Strategy
This strategy necessarily redresses the acts to minimize the threats of the
positive face of the hearer that happens in time. And the hearer know to whom
she/he speaking to, fairly for avoiding the conflict in the communication and
15
expression. The strategy of positive politeness is used for the actions that are not
too threatening to the face of the partner/hearer, but the speaker also express the
linguistic behavior between them in the form of positive wants. According to
Brown and Levinson (1987, pp. 101-129), this strategy is usually used between
two people, acquaintances or parties who have established closeness even though
they are not too familiar. There are some types of positive politeness strategies
bellow:
Give Notice, attend to hearer: (interest, needs, wants, goods)

The speaker before delivers the message, she/he will give notice of
the hearer condition base on the context. For example: that’s such
a beautiful bag, anyway could I borrow your pen ?
Overstate : interest, approval, sympathy with hearer
The speaker will give more intonation or overstate feeling to the
hearer. For example: what an amazing performance you have
done! That is so perfect show.
Intensify interest to the hearer
In this strategy, the speaker will make the hearer feels what the
speaker feels of his/her interest. So the speaker will intensify the
hearer what the speaker experienced. For example: Last night, son
Lucas was in the hospital for surgery and we have financial
problems. I have worked hardly to pay the service, but it is still not
enough….
Use in group identity marks
The strategy appear in the group identity interaction, in which the
language politeness of address only in group membership
partners. For example: honey, sweetheart, love, bro, sist, ect.
Seek agreement
The speaker wants to provide the way to seek the possible agreement of
the hearer and collaborate with his/her opinion. For example:
Speaker: look, I’m not an arms dealer.
Hearer: An arms dealer!?
Avoid disagreement
The hearer reflected the responds to agree with the speaker or to
hides the disagreement. There will some marks, drawing
conclusions, or hedging the opinions as not to be seen disagree.
For example:
Speaker: you make money 70 dollars in a week ?
16
Hearer: well, actually its more then what you heard

Presupposed, raise, common ground
The hearer will presupposes the speaker of what on his/her mind to
redressing the strategy. For example: wow, feel likes in a
beautiful room, I love it.
Jokes
The strategy may use jokes to puts the hearer redefine the
message. For example: Speaker: do you wants to wrap a lizard with
an expensive blanket ?
Hearer: I guess not
Assert and presuppose speakers’ knowledge and concern for hearers’

wants.
This strategy put pressure or assert for hearer of the knowledge to
be reacted. For example: I’m serious, I needs a partner for this job,
because you are my friend and you are the only one I believe.
Offer, promise
The use of promise or offers is associated to use in this strategy.
For example: I have promised to come. Should I repeat it ?
Optimistic
This strategy shows the optimistic assumption the speaker of
hearer in terms of expressing the message. For example: I’m sure
that you want to make more money.
Includes the speaker and hearer in the activity
Use inclusive pronoun “us” presents the speaker and the hearer in
the activity. For example: let’s go. We go to Iraq by night driving.
Give and ask for reason
By giving or asking reaction of the hearer, the speaker will
includes hearer to ask for reason. For example:
why don’t you work for me? serious, I need a help
Assume assert reciprocity
The reciprocity is collaborates in conveying the message between
the speaker and the hearer. For example:
if you bring me the international contract, I will make you rich.
Give (gift) to hearer (goods, sympathy, understanding, cooperation)
By giving gifts, the hearer will feels satisfied by the speaker. For
example:
I do understand about all your problems.
Negative Politeness Strategy
The hearer’s position in this politeness strategy redresses the action of
negative face which have greater respect then the positive politeness. Negative
politeness is used when the speaker realizes that there is a threat that can be
17
accepted by the speaking partner/hearer as the social distance or the situation of
the communication. This strategy happens because there is a respect behavior
between the speaker and the hearer (Brown & Levinson, 1987, pp. 129-211).
When carrying out this strategy, the speaker acknowledges and respects the
negative face of the hearer. Negative politeness straight to mind as the most
conventionalized set of FTA strategy. There are several factors that influence the
negative politeness appears such as;
Be conventionally indirect
This strategy marked with indirect speech that can be done in the
time period. For example:
Open the door please.
Get away from me.
Can you drive the car ?
Give question or hedge
This strategy comes from the speaker that wants not to be
presumed or expected, and not to force the hearer. For example:
I guess, I will not going home right now.
It was amazing. Isn’t it ?
Really ?
Pessimistic
The strategy redresses the hearer to be in doubt position in which
takes the hearer to think about the appropriate acts. For example:
Could you finish it in one night ?
Try to minimize the imposition
The speaker try to minimize the imposition of the hearer by giving
encode to be responsible of his/her acts. For example:
I just want to say that, this was an accident.
Give deference
This strategy define base on the speakers humbly of the hearer, or
the speaker use the positive face of the hearer to be treated. For
example:
Yes sir, thank you. Oh yes please.
Apologize
The speaker give apologize before expressing the message. For
example:
Look, I probably not mastering of this job, but……
Impersonalize speaker and hearer
The way of speaker not to impinges the hearer by not using the
pronoun “I” and “You” For example:
18
Give (it)!, Go (you), it looks (to me) like, ect.

Face threatening act as general rule
The strategy where the communications in general rule,
regulation, or obligation are wants imposed to do. For example:
No Smoking, No Weapon Allowed, Ect.
Nominal
The strategy nominalize the verb phrase. For example:
Impressive, you may do it, you go, why should I believe you ? etc.
Go on record as incurring a debt or as not indebting the hearer
The strategy where the speaker gives indebtedness of hearer. For
example:
I owe you my life
Off-record strategy
The strategy off record such a way that is not possible to be done. This is
because the strategy means if there are more threats serious about the face of the
partner said, this strategy leave the face out by interpreting indirect strategy,
which to avoid responsibility of FTA by being ambiguous in the communication.
The strategy makes the hearer will go back and front on the speakers’ meaning
because of the use of contradictions meaning or limitless information. Therefore,
this strategy makes the language difficult to be understood and needs more
attention of the hearers’ thought, according to Brown and Levinson (1987, pp.
211-227), there are several types of off record strategy such as;
Give hints: Motive, condition

The speaker will say something that is not basically relevant with
the hint, nut the hearer will try to interpret the relevant meaning of
it. For example:
It is hot here, such a hot room (hearer will turn on the air
conditioning)
Give association clue
The speaker gives the same or relevant clue to the hearer. For
example:
Are you going to campus tomorrow morning ? I will go at 7 (go
with me)
19
Presuppose
The strategy is related to the relevant condition that happens. For
example:
I hope, he will not come late again.
Understate
The speaker or hearer use understates strategy to say something
that is less then what is required. For example:
Speaker: Can you finish this job ?
Hearer: It’s not a big deal. (I don’t think this job is difficult)
Overstate
The speaker or hearer will say something that is more then what is
necessary to be said. For example:
Speaker: why do you come late ?
Hearer: it was raining outside, and I forgot to bring my umbrella
(I’m sorry)
Use tautologies
This strategy says the patent and truth of what it is exactly. For
example:
If I say I’m not going, I’m not!
Use contradictious
The hearer use contras way of repeating the answer. For example:
Speaker: Are you hungry ?
Hearer: Well, not really… ( yes, I am hungry)
Be ironic
The strategy where hearer saying the prosodic, smirk or simply
context clues of the original meaning. For example:
Speaker: Dina has 300 dollars in her bank account.
Hearer: I think Dina just have half of it
Use metaphors
This strategy use metaphors to describe something that is literally
false but have the same quality. For example:
You are the horse (run fast) in the marathon today
Use rhetorical questions
The question that basically have no answer. For example:
Do you know how hard I work this week ? (it is so hard)
Ambiguous
The use of ambiguous impression of the speaker to convey the
message to the hearer. For example:
Holis is my bank. ( have lots of money)
Be vague
The speaker uses unclear statement about the object what is the
message referred. For example:
Someone kills the dog.
What makes the rock fall ?
20
Over general
The unclear statements that have over general message will leave
the object of FTA is vaguely. For example:
A car hits a guy on the traffic light.
Displace the hearer
The speaker may talk to all audience for treats someone without
directly treating the real target of FTA. For example:
Turn on the fans please (teacher in the class ask to the students
who is sitting near to the electric switch).
Incomplete
The speaker uses unfinished and limited conversational context by
leaving the FTA incomplete various speech. For example:
Yes, if you come late…….
Social Media
Social media is generally known as interactive media platforms that make
it easier to create and share content through online communities and networks,
including information, ideas, interests, and other kinds of expression. Obar, and
Wildman (2015), argued that although social connection has always been
facilitated by the internet and the World Wide Web, the birth and quick spread of
Web 2.0 functions during the first decade of the new century allowed for an
evolutionary leap in the social aspect of web use. This, combined with decreasing
costs for online data storage, made it possible to provide a wide range of user-
centric spaces for a large number of internet users to access, along with a
correspondingly diverse set of opportunities for connecting these spaces together
to form virtual social networks. In America alone, stated by Greenwood, Perrin, &
Duggan (2016), The Pew Research Center has compiled extensive data on the
various ways Americans use social media to engage with one another and seek out
information during the past ten years. Nowadays, a majority of people in the
21
country claim to acquire their news from social media, and half of the populace
used these platforms to learn about the 2016 presidential election. Americans are
using social media in the context of their jobs (whether to take a mental vacation
from the office or to look for employment) while simultaneously making a
continual effort to handle the complicated privacy issues that these websites bring
to light. Thus, given the intensity of the use of social media in daily lives, it is
only appropriate to use corresponding politeness strategies that are necessary in
social interactions.
Previous Study
Many research has been done regarding politeness strategies, wether it is
observed in social interactions offline or online. Thus, the researcher will review
the studies in which are closely related to the current study. Pangestuti (2015),
also studies politeness strategy, her research was done by observing Deddy
Corbuzier in the Hitam Putih talk show in interviewing entertainer and non-
entertainer. Her research portrayed the types of politeness strategies used, their
differences, and the reasons behind its usage. It has the same subject to the current
research which is politeness strategy but has different object and research
questions.
Research of politeness on youtube in particular has been done by many
researchers. Some of which are closely related to the current study. Wardoyo
(2019), also studies the politeness strategies used in youtube comment sections’
online discussions. However, he studies wether the politeness in youtube
comment sections’ online discussions are contagious or not. It is intended to know

22
further whether the politeness strategies used in comments would lead the viewers
to give replies or responds with the same ones or the different ones. Slightly
different from the current study that will highlight solely on the politeness
strategies used in the comment section of a viral YouTube video instead of the
contagiousness of the content of the comment section.
Another similar research to the previous one by Arrasyd and Hamzah
(2019), on the other hand studies the (im)politeness in the youtube comment
section of the 2019 Indonesia presidential debate. It is intended to find
impoliteness strategies used by netizens to Jokowi-Maaruf and netizens to
Prabowo-Sandi based on gender in YouTube comments section based on
Culpeper`s theory (1996). Different from the current study that will portray all of
the politeness strategies available used instead of the (im)politeness in a comment
section of a presidential debate.
Overall, the current study is intended to shed a light on the politeness strategies
used in the comment section of a video about the newest phenomena of the Oscars
history. Different from the studies mentioned beforehand that has different objects
and purposes to the current study. This study will explore the usage of politeness
strategies in expressions used in social media which is relevant to the current
situation of the world, where a huge margin of the world’s social interaction is
done online through social media. Thus, it will give a new perspective of how
politeness strategies are used.

23
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY OF RESEARCH
Method of Research
This research were done using descriptive qualitative method. Kumar
(2011), stated that the strength of qualitative method is in the flexibility of
approach and the ability to incorporate new ideas while collecting data. In
addition, Sugiyono (2014), argues that qualitative method is used to understand
social interaction. Given the importance of politeness in social interaction,
qualitative method is the most appropriate method to use to analyze it. This
research is conducted to analyze the politeness strategies in the comments of a
YouTube video, which could be considered as a part of social interaction.
Furthermore, qualitative research produces a literal depiction of the events under
study, according to Vanderstoep and Johnston (2008). That is, qualitative research
focuses on naturally explaining or characterizing the phenomena. It is therefore
pertinent to our study since it looked at the occurrences of politeness actions in
natural communication on social media.
Source of Data
The data of this research were collected from the comments in the video
“Will Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars 2022” that was uploaded by
Entertainment Tonight YouTube channel. This video was chosen because of the
controversy and the amount of different opinions that people have towards it,
which may lead to a lot of different comments and possibly the use of different
24
politeness strategies. The researcher analyzes the politeness strategy used by
commenters in the comment section of the video. The form of data are the
comments used by the commenters in the comment section. Because a Youtube
video can be watched for an infinite amount of times as long as it is not deleted or
the comment section is not closed, there could be an infinite number of comments.
Therefore, the researcher only collects the data from the top/most liked comments
because it is more likely to be seen or replied by more people or find at least one
of each politeness strategy that is used in the comment section.
Data Collection Technique
The researcher collected the data using note taking method through a
number of steps.
1. The first step was for the researcher to open Youtube and look for the
video titled ”Will Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars 2022” uploaded by
a channel named “Entertainment Tonight”.
2. The second step was for the researcher to open the comment section of the
video using the top comments filter and scroll through to find the most
suitable comments.
3. The third step was to take notes of all the suitable comments to be
analyzed for the politeness strategy.
4. The last step was for the researcher to collect the comments that use any of
the politeness strategies to be further analyzed.

25
Data Analysis Technique
After the data was collected, these several steps were done to analyze the
data :
1. First step was for the researcher to interpret the comments from the
collected data and determine the types of politeness strategies used out of
the available data.
2. Second step was for the researcher to present the previously analyzed data
using a table containing each of the types of politeness strategies and sub-
strategies as proposed by Brown & Levinson’s theory that was found in
the available data sample.
Below is the table format that is used to present the data.
Politeness Strategies Used in the Comment Section of the Will Smith
SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars 2022
No. Politeness Strategy Sub-strategy Total
1. Positive Politeness Jokes
2. Negative Politeness
3. Off-record
3. The third step was for the researcher to explain the details of each of the
politeness strategies that was used as previously presented in the table.
4. The last step was for the researcher to draw a conclusion from the
findings.
26
CHAPTER IV
FINDING AND DISCUSSION
This chapter presents the research findings and discussion that are based
on the data discovered. It answered and explained the research question of How
are politeness strategies used in the comment section of the “Will Smith SLAPS
Chris Rock at Oscars 2022” video.
Research Finding
This section presents the analysis of politeness strategies used by
commenters in the “Will Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars 2022” youtube
video. The analysis focused on the politeness strategies used in the top 50
comments of the “Will Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars 2022” YouTube video
as it is the most highlighted comments and most likely to be interacted more with
people looking in the comment section and because of the ever growing amount
of comments.
After opening the video on youtube, scrolling through the top comments,
and taking notes on some comments to be analyzed, then the data was obtained.
The data was analyzed using the theory of Brown & Levinson, (1987), in which
according to the theory there are four politeness strategies consisting of positive
politeness strategy, negative politeness strategy, bald on record strategy, and bald
off record strategy. The usage of politeness strategies as mentioned in the theory
of Brown & Levinson are to manage the amount of FTA to the speaker. So it is
27
used depending on how the speaker want to position himself to the hearer, if the
speaker wishes to save face then they would use the appropriate politeness
strategy and vice versa. However, the usage of politeness strategies in social
media specifically in commenting on youtube videos is different because the
commenters can give comments anonymously which makes the commenters have
less risk of losing face. Thus the usage of politeness strategies in the comments of
the Will Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars 2022 will vary more dpending on the
commentors’ personal opinion rather than the risk of losing face.
Here are the data of the politeness strategy used in the top 50 comments of
the youtube video Will Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars 2022.
Table of Data of Politeness Strategy Used in the Comments
No. Politeness Strategy Sub-strategy Total
1. Positive Politeness Jokes 8
Intensify Interest to the Hearer 24
Presupposed, Raise, Common Ground 1
Use in Group Identity Marks 1
Overstate: Interest, Approval, Sympathy 9
with Hearer
2. Off-record Give Hints: Motive, Condition 4
Incomplete 3
28
First is the use of positive politeness strategy. Positive politeness strategy
normally are used in actions that are not too threatening to the face of the
hearer/reader. This strategy arise because of the speaker’s intention to show a
good impression through sharing the same views and desires of the hearer/reader.
Intensify interest to the hearer
In this strategy, the speaker will make the hearer feels what the
speaker feels of his/her interest. So the speaker will intensify the
hearer what the speaker experienced.
This sub-strategy is usually used if the speaker want to show a good impression to
the hearer. The speaker will intensify their interest to the hearer in hope to share
the same interest to the hearer and build a positive face. It is the most used
strategy in the comments of the analyzed Youtube video comments section based
on the sample taken from the top 50 comments with a total of 24 out of the 50
comments. Its usage can be seen in the data below.
Data 6.
@_moonlight_fox4798 :
For anyone else trying to understand Chris Rock’s joke:
When Chris Rock says “Jada, can't wait for G.I. Jane 2” it is an apparent
reference to Jada’s shaved hairdo - a result of the hair loss condition

29
alopecia. Rock's joke referred to a 1997 film ‘G.I. Jane’, in which an
actress named Demi Moore played the main role with a severe buzzcut.
Data Analysis
In the data above, the speaker/commenter tried to explain the situation that
happened to the hearer/reader. The commenter said “For anyone else trying to
understand Chris Rock’s joke” referring to the readers that does not understand
the context of the joke that the comedian in the video Chris Rock made to Will
Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett to trigger the attention from other commenters and
proceeds to explain that “When Chris Rock says ‘Jada, can't wait for G.I. Jane 2’
it is an apparent reference to Jada’s shaved hairdo - a result of the hair loss
condition alopecia. Rock's joke referred to a 1997 film ‘G.I. Jane’, in which an
actress named Demi Moore played the main role with a severe buzzcut”, basically
explains the context of the joke that Chris Rock made that made Will Smith slap
Chris Rock and the commenter’s view of interest in what happened and tries to
make sure that the readers share the same view as the commenter. Thus, the
commenter is intensifying his/her interest to the reader as explained by Brown and
Levinson (1987), as part of the sub-strategies of the positive politeness strategy.
Other examples of the usage of this strategy can also be found in other comments
of the 50 samples with slightly different approaches such as the one below.
Data 8.
@lils2968 :
30
“It's not even the slap for me. Its the way will walks away with a cheeky
smile whilst adjusting his suit for me ”
Data Analysis
The data above also shows that the commenter intensifies his/her interest in the
comment that he/she wrote. Different from the previous data that intensifies the
interest in the form of content and providing context for other people to share the
same idea, in this data the commenter intensifies his/her interest by putting
emphasis before the interest in “It’s not even the slap for me”. The commenter
saying “for me” puts an emphasis that the content of his/her comment is of his/her
own interest which can be found in “Its the way will walks away with a cheeky
smile whilst adjusting his suit for me ” that also repeats the same emphasis “for
me” as before along with the use of emoticons “🤣🤣” to further emphasize the
emotion contained in the commenter’s interest.
Data 12.
@DS-of6ui :
31
“Seriously!! If smith hadn't slapped Chris I wouldn't have even known
that the oscars took place”
Data Analysis
In this particular data, the commenter also use emphasis to intensify his/her
interest. However, the emphasis that is used is in “Seriously!!” that puts an
emphasis on the interest that the commenter later insert in “If smith hadn't slapped
Chris I wouldn't have even known that the oscars took place😂😂” is different from
the previous data 8 that was explained before that puts its emphasis on referral to
the commenter’s interest in “for me”. The usage of “Seriously!!” emphasizes that
his/her interest in “If smith hadn't slapped Chris I wouldn't have even known that
the oscars took place😂😂” is truly what he/she feel. Furthermore, the commenter
also used emticons like the previous data to emphasize the emotion contained in
his/her interest.
Jokes
The strategy may use jokes to puts the hearer redefine the
message.
Jokes are part of the sub-strategy of the positive politeness strategies used to
engage in a positive manner by making the hearer laugh from the ambiguous
32
message sent by the speaker for the hearer to redefine and find its true meaning.
Out of the 50 top comments collected, 8 of them is using this sub-strategy and its
usage can be seen from the data below.
Data 5.
@catbarbadinho :
If someone doesn't slap Chris Rock, There's always someone who WILL.
Data Analysis
The data above shows that the commenter said “If someone doesn't slap Chris
Rock, There's always someone who WILL” referring that even if Will Smith did
not slap Chris Rock, someone else will because he deserves to be slapped due to
the joke that he made about Will Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett. However, the
commenter put an emphasis on the word “WILL” by writing it using all capital
letters referring to the name of Will Smith which means that what the commenter
was actually joking and meant to say that there is no one else willing to go to the
extent of slapping Chris Rock except for Will Smith. It shows that the commenter
thinks what Will Smith did was not necessary and not the right thing to do. Thus,
the commenter used the word “WILL” as a way for the readers to redefine the
message that the commenter wrote. Therefore the commenter used a joke for the
reader to redefine the meaning of what the commenter said as explained by Brown
and Levinson (1987), as a sub-strategy of the positive politeness strategy.

33
This sub-strategy can be used in different ways however the speaker/commenter
desire to use. It can be done by using emphasis such as the previous data, or it can
use other ambiguous ways to make the reader/hearer redefine the message like
metaphors followed by a punchline like the following data.
Data 50.
@bigginsg8711 :
“He blackened the Oscars right up! Along with Chris Rock's eye!”
Data Analysis
The commenter in the data above said “He blackened the Oscars right up!”
followed by “Along with Chris Rock’s eye!”. Upon first impression or
interpretation, “He blackened the Oscars right up” have the literal meaning of
“he” in this case Will Smith made the Oscars turn into the color black or made it
dark. However, taking the context into account that Will Smith did not turn the
Oscars black, his and Chris Rock’s ethnicity and cultural background of being an
African-American that could be associated with violence in the United States is
the only possible explanation for the usage of “blackened” which resulted in the
redefined meaning of “He blackened the Oscars right up!” as Will Smith made the
Oscars violent because of his action in slapping Chris Rock that is followed by the
punchline “Along with Chris Rock’s eye!” that could take the “blackened”
meaning different from the previous line making the meaning literal as in Will
Smith made Chris Rock’s eye black as a consequence of his slap.

34
The ambiguity that is utilized in joke to make the hearer/reader redefine can also
be emphasized using other means such as emoticons as the modern way of
expressing emotions in writing form such as the one displayed in the following
data.
Data 34.
@Ammiel-s_Christmas_tree :
“This still slaps hard”
Data Analysis
The commenter in the data above said “This still slaps hard 💀💀”, if interpreted
literally means that this video still slaps hard that indicates that the commenter
rewatched the video after some time and commented that the slap on Chris Rock
was still as hard as the last time he/she saw it. However, “slaps hard” can be
interpreted as a slang that means “To recognize as being ingenius and amazing”
(Urban Dictionary : Ingredient Produckshins, 2006), or otherwise can be
interpreted as funny or hilarious. Furthermore, the usage of the emoticon “💀💀” as
explained in Emojipedia (2024), commonly expresses death or dying of laughter
emphasizes that the usage of “slaps hard” in the comment means that the comment
is a joke because it indicates that the commenter was dying of laughter.

35
Overstate : interest, approval, sympathy with hearer
The speaker will give more intonation or overstate feeling to the
hearer.
Overstate is a sub-strategy of the positive politeness strategy that as the name
suggests is when the speaker will overstate their interest or feeling to the hearer by
using intonation or putting emphasis in written form. There are 9 comments using
this sub-strategy out of the 50 top comments and the data below shows its usage
in the comments of the youtube video.
Data 1.
@fallendevonish1869 :
everybody would’ve forgot that joke in 5 minutes but Will Smith has made
everyone remember it forever.
Data Analysis
The data above showed that the commenter said “everybody would’ve forgot that
joke in 5 minutes” implying that the joke that Chris Rock made in the
commenter’s opinion is insignificant and that people will get over it quickly, but
unfortunately Will Smith did not act according to what the commenter think he
should do, and the commenter overstates his/her feeling about what Will Smith
did in the video by saying “Will Smith has made everyone remember it
36
forever”, implying that he/she feels Will Smith should not have done that and that
it only made things worse for him by making it a more memorable incident for the
whole world that saw it.
In spite of the fact that there are 9 uses of this strategy in the data sample, all of
them share the same essence or meaning only displayed using slightly different
diction or way of saying. Such as the data below.
Data 9.
@kari-3795 :
“Everyone would have forgotten that joke in 15 seconds but Will just
made sure everyone remembers it forever”
Data 10.
@zoey935 :
“Legendary moment that will never be forgotten”
Data 16
@7Seveneleven7715 :
“Will made the joke immortal and it will be remembered for decades to
come”.
All the data above share the same meaning or essence which is the moment that
occurred in the video of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock will be very memorable
37
or hard to forget and all of the data above also uses overstate by putting emphasis
on the time only using different diction such as “never be forgotten”, or
“remembers it forever”, ect.
Presupposed, raise, common ground
The hearer will presupposes the speaker of what on his/her mind to
redressing the strategy.
Presuppose according to the Dictionary (Merriam-Webster, n.d.) means “to
suppose beforehand” or “to require as an antecedent in logic or fact”. This sub-
strategy utilizes presupposition of what is in the speaker’s mind to ease the
conversation with the hearer.
Data 4.
@jessebella9901 :
“This is the most honest act ever seen on the Oscars. If this happened
more often, I'd actually watch it.”
Data Analysis
The commenter first said “This is the most honest act ever seen on the Oscars”,
which refers to the action of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock because of a joke
that Chris Rock made about Will Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett. Then the commenter
added “If this happened more often, I’d actually watch it”, meaning that if such
things occur more often the commenter would willingly watch the Oscars.
38
However, from the highlighted part of the comment which is “If this happened
more often” it implies a meaning or a presuppose that the commenter either
wished that it would happen more often or saying that it does not happen often.
Either way, it makes the hearer/reader presuppose of what was on the
commenter’s mind.
Use in Group Identity Marks
The strategy appear in the group identity interaction, in which the
language politeness of address only in group membership
partners.
In this sub-strategy of positive politeness strategy, group identity marks are used
to build or establish a relationship or a bond between the speaker/commenter and
the hearer/reader which will change their way of communicating to be closer or
more intimate.
Data 45.
@sonofgreattani2607 :
“Well done my boy… we shouldn’t make someone’s weakness and
suffering as joke specially when they r with u.”
Data Analysis
The data above showed the commenter saying “my boy” which refers to Will
Smith because from the context of the next thing the commenter said “we
39
shouldn’t make someone’s weakness and suffering as joke specially when they r
with u” means that “my boy” cannot be Chris Rock because he was the one
making the joke, so by process of elimination “my boy” must be referring to Will
Smith. The meaning of “my boy” itself if it is interpreted literally means my son.
However, that particular meaning is not possible because Will Smith’s father has
already been deceased since 2016, so the commenter said “my boy” not to refer to
Will Smith as his father but as an identity marker that has the qualities meaning as
someone reliable, someone you love or adore, or in this case for the commenter is
as someone that he/she is a fan of. Thus, the usage of “my boy” in this data is used
as an identity marker for someone the commenter admire as a celebrity which is
Will Smith.
Off-record Strategy
The off-record strategy is a strategy that leaves the face out by interpreting an
indirect strategy, it is used to avoid responsibility of FTA by being ambiguous in
the communication. The strategy makes the hearer a bit baffled by the
contradictory meaning contained in using this strategy.
Give hints: Motive, condition
The speaker will say something that is not basically relevant with
the hint, nut the hearer will try to interpret the relevant meaning of
it.
This sub-strategy is used to give hints or motives of the speaker in an indirect
manner leaving the hearer to interpret what the speaker actually want or what is
40
the motive behind the thing that the speaker has said that is basically irrelevant of
what they spoke of beforehand. There are 4 of the 50 top comments that use this
sub-strategy, some are explained below.
Data 2.
@gemmacabanas3978 :
“WILL: IT WAS FUNNY
HIS WIFE: I’M NOT LAUGHING
WILL: IM NOT LAUGHING”
Data Analysis
The commenter said something that is not basically relevant with the hint. The
commenter tried to reenact what happened between Will Smith and his wife in the
commenter’s personal opinion of what happened based on what he interpreted
from what happened in the video. The comment “HIS WIFE: I’M NOT
LAUGHING; WILL: I’M NOT LAUGHING”, hinted that at the beginning
Will Smith was not offended by the joke that Chris Rock made about his wife but
ended up acting the way he did in the video because he thought his wife was
offended by it.
Made up conversations such as the data above was also utilized in other comments
in the data sample such as.
Data 19.
41
@bl_pan :
“Organizers: How do we make people remember this night forever?
Chris Rock: I'll just make a joke about Will's wife and he'll come up the
stage to slap me.
Will Smith: Say no more”.
Data Analysis
The data above is a made up conversation lsmilar to the previous data that
displays the usage of the strategy explained. The commenter first said
“Organizers: How do we make people remember this night forever?” asking in the
made up conversation between the organizers and Will Smith and Chris Rock.
Chris Rock later replied “I'll just make a joke about Will's wife and he'll come up
the stage to slap me” followed by Will Smith “Say no more” which is irrelevant to
the hint if interpreted as “shut up” or “be quiet”. However, the true meaning of
“Say no more” in the data above is meant to be interpreted meaning that Will
Smith agreed. Thus, the line “Say no more” is a utilization of the strategy Give
Hints: Motive, Condition.
Incomplete
The speaker uses unfinished and limited conversational context by
leaving the FTA incomplete various speech.

42
This sub-strategy like other sub-strategy of the bald off-record politeness strategy
leaves the face out of the picture to avoid FTA by using indirect strategies. In the
case of this particular sub-strategy, the speaker/commenter uses incomplete
sentences to avoid FTA by making the hearer/reader to interpret the meaning
themselves instead of the speaker/commenter saying it directly and risking of
getting FTA.
Data 13.
@gos_alex3743 :
“The way Chris Rock is laughing when Will Smith walks to him ”
Data Analysis
The commenter in the data above said “The way Chris Rock is laughing when
Will Smith walks to him”, which is an unfinished sentence because the meaning
of it is incomplete and there is no added detail of what is going on with the way
Chris Rock is laughing when Will Smith walks up to him. However, the
commenter added “🤣” at the end of a sentence as an indirect way of saying that the
commenter found what happened in the video was funny. Thus perfecting the
indirect strategy using the incomplete and limited context that the commenter
provided in the comment.

43
The usage of emoticon or emoji in implementing the incomplete strategy by
giving indirect context can also be found in other comments in the data sample
such as.
Data 47.
@tehya6912 :
“The drama 😂”
Data Analysis
Similar to the previous data, this data also uses incomplete strategy by just saying
“The drama” without giving any other context of what is going on with “The
drama” or is it good or is it bad to avoid FTA. However, as the commenter in the
previous data did, the commenter in this data also uses emticon or emoji “😂” to
finish the incomplete sentence by giving context that means that the drama is
funny to the commenter.
Discussion
Based on the findings, there are only two types of politeness strategy that
were used in the top 50 comments of the Will Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars
44
2022 youtube video. These are the positive politeness strategy and the bald-off
record strategy.
The positive politeness strategy was found in 43 out of the 50 top
comments as the sample data, making it the most used strategy out of the two
politeness strategy found. Furthermore, the 43 comments that were found consists
of five different sub-strategies namely jokes with 8 uses; intensify interest to the
hearer with 24; presupposed, raise, common ground with 1; use in group identity
marks with 1; and overstate: interest, approval, sympathy with hearer with 9. The
usage of politeness strategy itself is to save face or to create a positive image on
one’s self for others by acting with consideration of norm and certainty widely
utilized in society and avoiding giving offense by emphasizing friendliness
(Sijabat, 2019). Therefore, taking into account the nature of commenting in the
youtube platform that provides people with the ability of being anonymous by
freely choosing their own username, the dominant usage of positive politeness
strategy in the findings showed that people still tend to try and be friendly to each
other to save face or create a positive image despite of their ability to stay
anonymous. However, the sub-strategies that were used further explain the details
of how the commenters try to save face, which are provided below.
1. Jokes
The 8 usage of jokes showed that 8 commenters intend to leave a positive
impression by trying to make the hearer/reader laugh. It is in line with the opinion
45
of Hafid et al. (2022), which states that the strategy of using jokes is a way to
strengthen friendships. This agrees with Spero's (2013) assertion that laughter
happens when people are at ease with one another and feel approachable and
transparent. The greater the relationships within a group, the more laughter there
is.
Based on the data analysis provided in the findings, the usage of the jokes
strategy were applied through ambiguity that triggered the hearer/reader to
redefine the message or the comment sent by the commenter. It is shown in the
analysis of data 5 which used capitalization to form ambiguity, data 50 which
used the situation and context to form ambiguity, etc
Thus, the jokes strategy which is a sub-strategy of positive politeness
strategy was used 8 times from the total sample data using different methods such
as capitalization, usage of in-group exclusive context, or anything else to form an
ambiguity that caused the hearer/reader to redefine the message to result into a
funny or humorous meaning. The strategy was used to establish a stronger bond
between the commenter and the hearer/reader by sharing a laugh or sharing a
similar emotion or interest through jokes as previously explained.
2. Intensify Interest to the Hearer

46
This strategy was the most used strategy found in the 50 sample data the
researcher used. The strategy was found in 24 comments of the 50 comments as
the sample data. It is a sub-strategy of the positive politeness strategy that is used
to show a good impression to the hearer by intensifying their interest to the hearer
in hope to share the same interest and build a positive face with the hearer.
Based on the findings of the research, the strategy of intensifying interest
to the hearer was used by the commenters to share their view or interest on the
content of the Will Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars 2022 youtube video. The
execution of the strategy itself that was found in the findings was through detailed
explanation of the context shown in the video or the commenter’s own interest,
and putting emphasis on the comment that highlights the commenter’s interest in
the comments.
In light of this information, the intensify interest to the hearer strategy is
the most used strategy based on the findings of this research with a total of 24
usage in 24 of the 50 comments as the data sample. This fact shows that most
people that commented prefer to build a positive face by sharing and intensifying
their interest to others using methods such as detailed explanations that shows the
commenter’s interest, addition of emphasis in the comments that highlights the
commenter’s interest, and others.
3. Presupposed, Raise, Common Ground

47
This strategy was only used 1 time out of the 50 data samples. It is also a
sub-strategy of the positive politeness strategy, it utilizes presupposition of what is
in the speaker’s mind to ease the conversation with the hearer. Based on the
findings, this strategy was used by the commenter to make the hearer/reader
presuppose what is in the commenter’s mind. The commenter in the findings
stated “This is the most honest act ever seen on the Oscars. If this happened
more often, I'd actually watch it.”, the highlighted part of the comment implies a
meaning or a presuppose that the commenter either wished that it would happen
more often or saying that it does not happen often. Either way, it makes the
hearer/reader presuppose of what was on the commenter’s mind.
4. Use in Group Identity Marks
In this sub-strategy of positive politeness strategy, group identity marks
are used to build or establish a relationship or a bond between the
speaker/commenter and the hearer/reader which will change their way of
communicating to be closer or more intimate. In the particular comment that was
found using this strategy however, it was not used to establish a relationship or a
bond between the commenter and the hearer/reader but to showcase the fondness
of the commenter to one of the person involved in the video which is Will Smith.
The commenter used the identity marker of “my boy” which contains a meaning
of adoration, endearment, or fondness to describe Will Smith. Thus, the comment
was written using the use of in-group identity mark strategy to build or establish a
bond between the commenter and Will Smith that was showcased in the comment
section of the video for everyone to see.

48
5. Overstate: Interest, Approval, Sympathy with Hearer
Overstate is a sub-strategy of the positive politeness strategy that as the
name suggests is when the speaker will overstate their interest or feeling to the
hearer by using intonation or putting emphasis in written form. In the findings,
this strategy is used to emphasize what the writer/speaker is saying. Hyperbole is
typically used to exaggerate, emphasize, or overstate what the speaker/commenter
is saying. This strategy was used 9 times in this research data.
Based on the findings, all of the usage of this strategy in this research was
to exaggerate or overstate what the commenter wants to say. Data 16 for example
shows the commenter saying the word “immortal” to refer to the events that
happened in the video being unforgettable for everyone. The commenter
exaggerated by using the word “immortal” to emphasize how the commenter feel
about the video and the impression it left on the commenter. All other comments
found that used this strategy also used the same method.
Thus, the usage of this sub-strategy of the positive politeness strategy as
found in the findings to be used 9 times were used to emphasize what the
commenter feel by exaggerating or overstating how the commenter feel using
things such as hyperbole.
Bald Off-record Strategy

49
The bald off-record strategy was only found to be used in only 7 out of the
50 data samples of the comments of the “Will Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars
2022” YouTube video. Only 2 sub-strategy of the bald off-record strategy was
found used; Give hints with 4 usage, and Incomplete with 3. The off-record
strategy itself is a strategy that leaves the face out by interpreting an indirect
strategy, it is used to avoid the responsibility of FTA by being ambiguous in the
communication. The strategy makes the hearer a bit baffled by the contradictory
meaning contained in using this strategy. The usage of this politeness strategy is
effective in scenarios in social media such as YouTube like in this research
because of its nature to leave the face out of the conversation by being ambiguous
and the anonymity of commenting in social media like the YouTube comments
section. Furthermore, the sub-strategies that was used by the commenters in the
data found will be further explained below.
1. Give Hints: Motive, Condition
This sub-strategy is used to give hints or motives of the speaker in an
indirect manner leaving the hearer to interpret what the speaker actually want or
what is the motive behind the thing that the speaker has said that is basically
irrelevant of what they spoke of beforehand. Four of the fifty comments as the
data sample use this sub-strategy.
Based on the findings, the usage of this strategy was done by the
commenters by saying things irrelevant to the hint in the video. Purposefully
making it ambiguous for the reader/hearer to interpret which leaves the

50
commenter’s face out of the comment. Thus, 4 out of 50 of the commenters chose
to use this strategy and leave their face out of the comment to avoid FTA by
leaving ambiguous remarks in the comments.
2. Incomplete
This sub-strategy like other sub-strategy of the bald off-record politeness
strategy leaves the face out of the picture to avoid FTA by using indirect
strategies. In the case of this particular sub-strategy, the speaker/commenter uses
incomplete sentences to avoid FTA by making the hearer/reader to interpret the
meaning themselves instead of the speaker/commenter saying it directly and
risking of getting FTA.
Based on the findings, this strategy was used 3 times out of the total 50
comments as the data sample. The strategy itself was used by the commenters by
leaving incomplete remarks to leave an ambiguous effect for the reader/hearer to
interpret. It leaves the commenter’s face out of the comment and free them of the
risk of FTA. Thus, the usage of this sub-strategy share the same goal as the
previous bald off-record sub-strategy but uses different method which is using
incomplete sentence or context to leave an ambiguous effect and make the
reader/hearer guess the meaning.
CHAPTER V
51
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
This chapter presents the research conclusion and recommendations. The
conclusion are based on the findings from the research question formulation.
Then, the researcher also gives the recommendation to future researchers who are
interested in conducting a research on politeness strategies.
Conclusion
The researcher has made the conclusion based on the data that has been
found in this study, which is about the politeness strategies used in the comment
section of the youtube video titled Will Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars 2022.
In this study, the researcher used Brown & Levinson’s (1978) theory of politeness
strategy consisting of four main strategis which are positive politeness strategy,
negative politeness strategy, bald on-record strategy , and bald off-record strategy.
However, based on the findings and disscussion, the researcher only found
two out of four politeness strategies as proposed by Brown & Levinson (1978)
used in the top 50 comments of the Will Smith SLAPS Chirs Rock at Oscars 2022
YouTube comment section. These are; positive politeness strategy, and bald-off
record strategy. The researcher did not find the usage of negative politeness
strategies and bald on-record strategy due to the comment section of a YouTube
video being an open forum that opens the commenters to the possibility of FTA
but still give the commenters enough freedom to express themselves due to the
freedom of choosing a username that will be displayed that gives the commenters
the ability to stay anonymous.

52
Additionally, out of the two politeness strategy that were found, the
positive politeness strategy was the most used politeness strategy with a total of
43 out of the 50 top comments as the sample data utilizing this strategy divided to
5 different sub-strategies which are jokes with 8, intensify interest to the hearer
with 24, presupposed, raise, common ground with 1, use in group identity marks
with 1, and overstate: interest, approval, sympathy with hearer with 9.
Comparatively, the usage of the bald off-record strategy was only 7 out of the 50
top comments with 2 sub-strategies namely incomplete strategy with 3, and give
hints; motive, condition strategy with 4.
In conclusion, the politeness strategy that is used in the comment section
of the Will Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars 2022 are positive politeness
strategy and bald off-record strategy because the commenters intend to share or
express their idea without the risk of FTA while still not being overly polite by
using a strategy like negative politeness strategy because of their freedom to be
anonymous that is provided by the YouTube platform. This unique factor is what
differentiates the usage of politeness strategies in real-life communication from
the politeness strategy that is used in online platforms without direct face-to-face
communication such as the YouTube comment section as proven by the
researcher in this research.
Recommendation
53
The researcher provides recommendations for everyone who is interested
in politeness strategy. The researcher expects this research to be a reference
material for future research regarding the topic of politeness strategy. The
researcher suggests that those who are interested in conducting a research in the
same topic to explore more. As this research only focuses on the types of
politeness strategy that is used in the comment section of the Will Smith SLAPS
Chris Rock at Oscars 2022 YouTube video, future research can discuss it further
by analyzing the politeness strategy that is used in the YouTube video instead of
the comment section. Furthermore, The future researcher can also try analyzing
the politeness strategy used in different YouTube videos or different online
platforms altogether like Instagram, Twitter, Whatsapp, etc.
REFERENCES
54
Arrasyd, A., & Hamzah, H. (2019). Impoliteness Strategies in Youtube Comment
Section Found in Indonesian Presidential Debate 2019. E-Journal English
Language and Literature.
Brown, P., & Levinson, S. (1978). Questions and Politeness: Strategies in Social
Interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Brown, P., & Levinson, S. (1987). Politeness: Some Universals in Language
Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Greenwood, S., Perrin, A., & Duggan, M. (2016). Social Media Update 2016.
Pew Research Center, 1-18.
Hafid, R. A., Serliana, Gusnawaty, & Said, I. M. (2022). Teenagers Language
Politeness Strategy on Social Media WhatsApp Based on Level of
Education. Al_Lisan: Jurnal Bahasa, 7(1), 1-14.
Ingredient Produckshins (2005). Slaps Hard. In Urban Dictionary. Retrieved
January 23, 2024, from https://www.urbandictionary.com/author.php?
author=Ingredient%20Produckshins
Kumar, R. (2011). Research Mathodology. Garneton: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Lakoff, R. T. (1989). The Limits of Politeness. Multilingua 8, 101-129.
Leech, G. (2014). Principle of Pragmatics. London & New York: Routledge.
Leech, G. N. (1983). The Pragmatic of Politeness. New York: Oxford University
Press.
55
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Presuppose. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary.
Retrieved January 21, 2024,
from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/presuppose
Mey, J. L. (1993). Pragmatics as Deconstruction. Social Semiotics, 219-230.
Obar, J. A., & Wildman, S. S. (2015). Social Media Definition and the
Governance Challenge – An Introduction to the Special Issue.
Telecommunications policy, 745-750.
Pangestuti, W. (2015). POLITENESS STRATEGIES USED BY DEDDY
CORBUZIER IN INTERVIEWING ENTERTAINER AND NON-
ENTERTAINER IN HITAM PUTIH TALK SHOW. Diponegoro:
Universitas Diponegoro.
Paputungan, R. (2020). An Analysis of Politeness Strategies Used by the
Characters in War Dogs Movie. Gorontalo: Universitas Negeri Gorontalo.
Skull. (n.d.). In Emojipedia. Retrieved January 23, 2024, from
https://emojipedia.org/skull#emoji
Spero, D. (2013). Laughter: Is it really the best medicine?
Sugiyono, S. (2014). Metode Penelitian Pendidikan Pendekatan Kuantitatif,
Kualitatif, dan R&D. Bandung: Alfabeta.

56
Vanderstoep, S. W., & Johnston, D. D. (2008). Research Methods for Everyday
Life: Blending Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Wardoyo, C. (2019). Contagiousness of Politeness on Youtube. Paradigm, 139-
148.
57
APPENDIX
Data Finding in Will Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars 2022 Comments
No. Corpus of Politeness in Comments Politeness Strategy Sub-Strategy
1. @fallendevonish1869 : Positive Politeness Overstate
” everybody would’ve forgot that joke in 5
minutes but Will Smith has made everyone
remember it forever.”
2. @gemmacabanas3978 : Off-record Strategy Give Hints: Motive, Condition
“WILL: IT WAS FUNNY
HIS WIFE: I’M NOT LAUGHING
WILL: IM NOT LAUGHING”
3. @qopoydnon5798 : Positive Politeness Jokes

58
“Legends say Chris Rick is still smiling to this
day”
4. @jessebella9901 : Positive Politeness Presupposed, raise, common ground
“This is the most honest act ever seen on the
Oscars. If this happened more often, I’d actually
watch it.”
5. @catbarbadinho : Positive Politeness Jokes
“If someone doesn't slap Chris Rock, There's
always someone who WILL”
6. @_moonlight_fox4798 : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“For anyone else trying to understand Chris
Rock’s joke:
When Chris Rock says “Jada, can’t wait for G.I.

59
Jane 2” it is an apparent reference to Jada’s
shaved hairdo – a result of the hair loss
condition alopecia. Rock’s joke referred to a
1997 film ‘G.I. Jane’, in which an actress
named Demi Moore played the main role with a
severe buzzcut”
7. @Naila.360 : Positive Politeness Jokes
“Will Smith from “laughing at the joke” to
“slapping Chris” to “crying during the speech”.
A well deserved Oscar for these mood swings.”
8. @lils2968 : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“It's not even the slap for me. Its the way will
walks away with a cheeky smile whilst

60
adjusting his suit for me ”
9. @kari-3795 : Positive Politeness Overstate
“Everyone would have forgotten that joke in 15
seconds but Will just made sure everyone
remembers it forever”
10. @zoey935 : Positive Politeness Overstate
“Legendary moment that will never be
forgotten”
11. @Phobosz : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“What saddens me is the fact that the audience
didn’t do anything about it and instead started
laughing.”
12. @DS-of6ui : Positivie Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer

61
“Seriously!! If smith hadn't slapped Chris I
wouldn't have even known that the oscars took
place”
13. @gos_alex3743 : Off-record Strategy Incomplete
“The way Chris Rock is laughing when Will
Smith walks to him ”
14. @VARJAGAMINGENTERTAINMENT : Positive Politeness Overstate
“This scene forever will be remain history and
never be forgotten ”
15. @ingamedetails : Positive Politeness Overstate
“You can literally feel the decades of bottled up

62
rage permeate through that slap. Lmao!”
16. @7Seveneleven7715 : Positive Politeness Overstate
“Will made the joke immortal and it will be
remembered for decades to come”
17. @elchrispr7873 : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“Honestly if Will Smith never slapped Chris I
genuinely wouldn’t have know the Oscar’s even
happened.”
18. @mikeenyinna4775 : Positive Politeness Jokes
“Chris deserves an instant Oscar for his
theatrical reaction”
19. @bl_pan : Off-record Strategy Give Hints: Motive, Condition
“Organizers: How do we make people
remember this night forever?

63
Chris Rock: I'll just make a joke about Will's
wife and he'll come up the stage to slap me.
Will Smith: Say no more.
20. @KashifKashif-sn1mn : Off-record Strategy Incomplete
“The way Chris rock is laughing will Smith
walks to him”
21. @PickleDood69420 : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“It’s absolutely insane that Will Smith can hit
someone at an awards show, sit back down,
then win an award and get a standing ovation”
22. @MayaByrne : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“Honestly. Chris Rock is a comedian. He
wouldn’t be able to make any jokes if he did not

64
hurt anyone verbally! Anyways Chris hurt him
verbally but Will hurt him physically”
23. @NigelGoode1 : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“Defending your wife's honour... good on ya
Will ”
24. @redsquirrel5308 : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“Will literally had a smirk on his face waking
back to his seat. I just hope someone would
have taken action against him like you can’t just
walk up and smack someone like that. What is
happening?”
25. @Ilovethebeatles104 : Positive Politeness Overstate
“’You have to have people disrespecting you

65
and you have to smile and pretend it’s OK’
that’s exactly what you did”
26. @arcade_matt : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer

“Had no clue the Oscars were even on”
27 @taiyorenai7690 : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“The fact that Will laughed at the joke before
immediately putting on the whole offended
mask makes it impossible to take any of his
reactions seriously”
28. @Beto-pn6rl : Positive Politeness Overstate
“Freakin' insane! how a person can destroy his
entire career in just 5 or 6 seconds”
29. @jamescooling : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“’Love will make you do crazy things’ That
wasn’t love, that was something else”

66
30. @redschnee5850 : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“Say whatever you want, but if it wasn’t for that
controversial moment, I couldn’t even know
there was an Oscar Awards show in that night
(hopefully I’m not the only).
And also we deserved the slap as the best meme
of the year.”
31. @user-gw4zg1qm8m : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“The worst thing about this whole incident is
Will actually laughed at that. That was a light
joke”
32. @zodiacqueen8677 : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“Was having a bad day So revisited this SLAP

67
to cheer me up 🥸”
33. @kimmyanna1324 : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“Chris Rock handle everything like nothing
happened though after getting a slap
He was on the next level”
34. @Ammiel-s_Christmas_tree : Positive Politeness Jokes
“This still slaps hard”
35. @ChandranPrema123 : Positive Politeness Jokes
“A slap can neither be created nor be destroyed
can only be transferred from one face to
another”
36. @clubredken13 : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“For me it wasn’t the slap.

68
It was when Will Smith yelled ‘Keep my wife’s
name out of your mouth.!’
Twice.”
37. @DS-of6ui : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“Seriously!! If smith hadn’t slapped Chris I
wouldn’t have even known that the scars took
place”
38. @mahmudaparvin2948 : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“Ok will yelling at Chris was wayyy more
akward than the actual slap”
39. @JustArkon : Positive Politeness Overstate
“Everyone would have forgotten that joke in 15
seconds but Will just made sure everyone

69
remembers it forever”
40. @mehraj6352 : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“”love will make u do crazy things” man tht is
the most truthful quote I ever heard”
41. @joshuafazekas9464 : Positive Politeness Jokes
“More people have seen this slap than the
movie Will got an award for.”
42. @Howlingburd19 : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“Honestly, if it wasn’t for this, I wouldn’t even
have known the Oscars were happening lol
And Smith’s “award” will forever be
overshadowed by this xD”
43. @pavilionman64 : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer

70
“He could have handled the situation in an
elegant way, go to Chris Rock and take the
microphone away from him and demand an
apology for the joke, looking him in the face.”
44. @yaelmoskowitz5741 : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“Will could have made a statement gracefully,
without laying hands on another adult on live
television. Chris Rock made a JOKE, Will
Smith ASSAULTED SOMEBODY, there is no
comparison.”
45. @sonofgreattani2607 : Positive Politeness Use in Group Identity Marks
“Well done my boy… we shouldn’t make
someone’s weakness and suffering as joke
specially when they r with u.”

71
46. @tynielsen : Positive Politeness Intensify Interest to the Hearer
“This was the first Oscar ceremony I watched
live. Some first time ”
47. @tehya6912 : Off-record Strategy Incomplete
“The drama ”
48. @onlythalapathyvijaymaster3324 : Off-record Strategy Give Hints: Motive, Condition
“Will: haha that was funny
Jada: no it wasn’t
Will: You’re right”
49. @leonemesis87 : Off-record Strategy Give Hints: Motive, Condition
“Love will make you do crazy things.. like
laughing your ass out of a joke, then realizing
it’s not cool and conclude to hit the comedian to

72
be the hero of the night. Love love love”
50. @bigginsg8711 : Positive Politeness Jokes
“He blackened the Oscars right up! Along with
Chris Rock's eye!”

Skripsi - Nurcholis Ilman Panai

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

Skripsi - Nurcholis Ilman Panai

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Skripsi - Nurcholis Ilman Panai

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Running head: Politeness Strategies in YouTube Comments

POLITENESS STRATEGIES IN YOUTUBE COMMENT IN WILL SMITH

SLAPS CHRIS ROCK AT OSCARS 2022

Nurcholis Ilman Panai

FACULTY OF LETTERS AND CULTURE

UNIVERSITAS NEGERI GORONTALO

the study. All of these will be discussed below.

Many factors could influence how we communicate with each other, it

affected is how polite we are, which was argued to be crucial by Pangestuti

construed politeness as efforts on redressing the affronts to a person's self-esteem

by effectively claiming positive social values in social interactions. Given its

powerful role in social interactions, showing politeness is a necessity to have a

conveyed to be received and replied to positively. As a result in social

According to Brown & Levinson (1987), people want to be appreciated or

their self-image to not be threatened or avoided by others. The concept of face in

image in society of trying not to be embarrassed or humiliated of ‘losing face’.

Face as the public image of people are desired to be respected in social

person is to be desirable to others or at least some others. Negative face on the

other hand is for the action done by a person to be unimpeded by others.

Politeness is an attitude used in communicating that aims to minimize

conflict and maximize compatibility between speaker and partners in a

conversation by considering individual and group values (Lakoff, 1989).

The theory of politeness strategies are described by Brown and Levinson

(1987, p.68-69) as an act to avoid face-threatening-act or FTA in social

YouTube is a video-sharing website that has grown in popularity as a

source of information and entertainment. Viewers have a wide range of reactions

and perspectives to the many sorts of content provided by various types of

freedom of expression encourages people to dispute as openly as possible,

increasing the likelihood of impolite statements (FTA).

Based on the researcher’s observation of the comment section, there are

Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars 2022 video.

categorized as positive politeness strategy because one of the types of positive

show the tendency of politeness strategy used in social media.

done by other researchers. Pangestuti (2015), conducted a research on the

politeness strategies used by Deddy Corbuzier as he hosted his talkshow ‘Hitam

usage of politeness strategies in real world communication where the people

the Oscars 2022.

The researcher believes that this research is necessary in order to

word is considered rude and disrespectful if it is being said by a different race of

people less reluctant to commit FTA.

Therefore, based on the explanation above, the researcher desires to find

mentioned above to help us better understand the use of politeness strategies

especially through an online platform, in this case the comment of a controversial

Based from the background previously explained, to shed a light on how

politeness are practiced in online social interactions, specifically YouTube. The

“Will Smith SLAPS Chris Rock at Oscars 2022” video ?.

Objective of the Research

This research is conducted to shed a light on the politeness strategies used

Scope and Limitation of the Research

This research focuses only on the politeness strategies used in the

comments considering the possibility of always increasing amount of comments

rational agent will tend to utilize the FTA-minimizing strategy according to a

politeness strategies to four discussions: Positive politeness, Negative politeness,

theory in research on politeness. Therefore, there is an abundance of references

using the theory proposed by Brown and Levinson.

Significance of the Research

This research gives both theoretical and practical contributions to the

readers. Theoritacally it contributes in giving basic theories of pragmatic in terms

interpreted by the hearer or audience. Furthermore, the theory of politeness will