A PRAGMATIC STUDY OF IMPOLITENESS STRATEGIES IN FACEBOOK COMMENTS ON NIGERIAN PREACHERS’ SERMONS
Keywords:
Pragmatics, Impoliteness Strategies, Facebook CommentersAbstract
The proliferation of social media interactions has immensely contributed to the growth and use of impolite language by individuals across different domains. There is limited research on the examination of impoliteness strategies used by Facebook commenters in antagonizing the theological perspectives (sermons) of Nigerian preachers. This study identified and examined the impoliteness strategies used by Facebook commenters, using Jonathan Culpeper’s Impoliteness Theory. The study used a descriptive qualitative research design which relies on secondary data. The data was extracted from the Facebook pages of four (4) Nigerian preachers, namely: Pastor David Ibiyeomie, Pastor Abel Damina, Prophet Chukwuemeka Ohanaemere (Odumeje) and Apostle Johnson Suleman. A purposive sampling technique was employed in selecting fifty (50) comments used by Facebook commenters in antagonizing Nigerian preachers’ sermons (sermons preached from January 2025-March 2026). Findings show that impoliteness strategies, including insults, inappropriate identity markers, name calling, blunt contradictions, direct accusations and ridiculing are used by Facebook commenters when antagonizing or reacting to the sermons of Nigerian preachers. The study concludes that the impoliteness strategies used by Facebook commenters are manifested using pragmatic tools, including but not restricted to, presupposition, rhetorical questions, metaphorization, diminutive titles, deixis, inference, epistemic modality and irony.
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