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    Complimenting behaviour on Facebook: responding to compliments in American English

    Placencia, Maria Elena and Lower, A. and Powell, H. (2016) Complimenting behaviour on Facebook: responding to compliments in American English. Pragmatics and Society 7 (3), pp. 339-365. ISSN 1878-9714.

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    Abstract

    Compliment responses in face-to-face interaction have been extensively studied in different languages and cultures. Studies on complimenting behaviour in virtual contexts are beginning to emerge (cf. Cirillo 2012; Placencia and Lower 2013; Maíz-Arévalo 2013). This paper aims to contribute to this emerging body of work by examining the responses to compliments made on Facebook by a group of women within a Facebook network in the US. While they received 1057 compliments, they produced only 205 responses. These results contrast with findings for face-to-face interactions where non-response is exceptional, suggesting a strong influence of the medium on social norms. Observational data from FB is supplemented with data from interviews with a group of Americans in order to explore appropriateness of non-response behaviour from FB users’ perspective. Regarding compliments which were responded to, acceptance predominated over rejection, in line with previous work within English-speaking communities (Holmes 1986; cf. Herbert 1989; Mustapha 2011).

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    Keyword(s) / Subject(s): pragmatics, computer-mediated discourse, social networking, Facebook, compliments, compliment responses, American English
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication
    Depositing User: Maria Elena Placencia
    Date Deposited: 29 Sep 2016 14:09
    Last Modified: 09 Aug 2023 12:36
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/11417

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