1.

Title
Politeness Strategy Used By College Students in Giving Comments
@mahasiswamalang Instagram.
2. Background
Politeness is one of keys in smooth communication. Without politeness,
communication between human is risky because it may harm each others feeling. It
also helps humans to maintain any relationship they have with each other; because to
preserve a good relationship, the information should be delivered in an appropriate
way or we can say in a polite way. When information is delivered in inappropriate
way, the hearer may be embarrassed or humiliated by the speaker, and this is called
impolite. In this context, politeness is considered as a necessary strategy in order to
avoid conflict between speaker and hearer. As stated by Leech (in Watts, 2003: 50),
politeness is strategy of conflict avoidance
Not all users of instagram are aware about politeness while giving comments on
instagram. Sometimes the comments given by them are impolite. Furthermore, people
thinks that instagram is place where they can be themselves. Therefore, they can give
any comments without pay attention to the purpose.
The writer interested in to this research because @mahasiswamalang is the
biggest instagram account in Malang. It is shown by the followers who reach 55.9k.
The followers always give comments to posts which related to their interest. For
instance, if that account post about UIN Malang, the followers who are the students

of UIN Malang will directly comments to that post. By considering this, the writer
thinks it is worthy to research the comments/ utterance given by college students in
@mahasiswamalang instagram.
3. Research Question
In this research, the writer considers politeness strategy among college students
while giving comments in instagram. This research examine question which is :
1. How those comments given by college students represent politeness
strategy?
4. Objectives
Related to the problem stated above, this research is aimed at analyzing the
comments given by college students at @mahasiswamalang instagram, whether it is
already polite or not. Furthermore, if it is already polite, the aim is to know what
politeness strategy used by them.
5. Limitation
This research is delimited on the following issues : (1) the object of the research is
the college student followers of @mahasiswamalang instagram (2) the research
focused on the comments given by college student followers on that account.

6. Benefit / Significance of The Study

The result of the research is expected to be beneficial for both writer and
followers :
1. For the writer, this research is expected to give more knowledge about social
phenomenon which should be criticized.
2. For the followers, this research expected to enhance the knowledge of
politeness strategy while using social media especially instagram.
7. Methodology
a. Research Design
In this research, the researcher use qualitative approach since the aim of it
is getting deep understanding about politeness strategy while using
instagram. Focused on politeness and critical discourse analysis.
b. How to Collect Data
In this research, the researcher follows the step of research proposed
by Sudaryanto (1993) they are : Collecting data, analyzing data, and
presenting the result of analysis.
comments

given

by

the

The data are taken from the

college

students

followers

at

@mahasiswamalang instagram.
c. How to Analyze Data
After data from the comments are collected, the researcher write those
comments and analyze the comments through the theories from some
sources, such as from the books, journals, and internet sources.
8. Theoritical Framework

This research is based on Brown and Levinsons theory (1987) politeness

strategies are developed to save the hearers face. Face refers to the respect that an
individual has for him or herself, and maintaining that self-esteem in public or in
private situations. Brown and Levinson stated that there are two types of face in an
interaction. The first on is negative face, which is the want of every member that the
speaker's actions can be unimpeded by others. The second one is positive force,
which is the want of every member that he wants be desirable to at least some others.
According to Brown and Levinsons theory (1987), there are five types of politeness
strategies. They are: bald on record, positive politeness, negative politeness, off
record and do not do Face Threatening Act.
In addition, this research also based on Michael Foucault (1989), one of the
primary concerns of Michel Foucault is the relationship between knowledge and
power and how this relationship operates within discourses and discursive
formations. Foucaults concept of discourse is similar to Althussers idea of the
problematic; that is, both are organized and organizing bodies of knowledge, with
rules and regulations which govern particular practices (ways of thinking and acting)
Discourses work in three ways: they enable, they constrain, and they constitute.

9. Definition of Keyterms
To avoid the drawback or misunderstanding of some words in this research, it
is important to give definition and explanation as follows :
Instagram

A social networking service for taking, changing, and sharing photographs

and video (cambridgedictionaryonline.com)
Politeness
:
Politeness can be defined as showing awareness of a consideration from
another persons face (Yule, 2006)
CDA :
Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is a type of discourse
analytical research that primarily studies the way social power
abuse, dominance, and inequality are enacted, reproduced, and
resisted by text and talk in the social and political context. With
such dissident research, critical discourse analysts take explicit
position, and thus want to understand, expose, and ultimately
resist social inequality. (Van Dijk, 1993)

10. References

Hasan, S. (2011). Pengantar Cultural Studies Sejarah Pendekatan Konseptual, & Isu
Menuju Studi Budaya Kapitalisme Lanjut. Yogyakarta: AR-RUZZ MEDIA.
Jane, S. (2006). How to Do Media and Cultural Studies . Yogyakarta: PT. Bentang
Pustaka.
Sardar, Z. (1999). Introducing Cultural Studies. UK: Icon Books Ltd.

Storey, J. (2009). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture an Introduction. University of

Sunderland.