Emotive-Evaluative Acts in the Online Discourse – on the Example of Comments on Allegro). Cover Image

Akty emotywno-oceniające w dyskursie internetowym – na przykładzie komentarzy w serwisie Allegro
Emotive-Evaluative Acts in the Online Discourse – on the Example of Comments on Allegro).

Author(s): Joanna Dobosiewicz
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Media studies, Communication studies
Published by: Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza
Keywords: emotions; Internet communication; new media; emotive function; communicative intention; interpersonal communication; language pragmatics

Summary/Abstract: This paper investigates comments left by users of Allegro – an on-line auction website. With the use of pragmalinguistics, author treats the e-commerce site comments as emotive-evaluative act directed towards both specific and potential contractors. It’s also an act used by the user to build websites’ participant image. Among positive acts we can distinguish acts of praising, which praise the way of closing the deal, product’s quality, contractor or the message itself. The second group consists of courtesy acts or polite sentences used in the acts of praising. Neutral comments are dominated by complaints. Their content has usually negative tone, however the addressees tend to ease them with means of such words as “unfortunately” or other words reflecting how sorry they are. The list of negative comments is dominated by acts of warning and advice. Users who initiate communication usually use censorious tone which causes asymmetry in relations between them and the addressee. The study shows that users willingly use their own words to rate the service and in addition to graphic scale and template offered by the website they describe their emotions.

  • Issue Year: 2015
  • Issue No: 08
  • Page Range: 35-50
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: Polish