The discrediting speech strategy in Internet communication (on the example of the use of trolling)

The paper presents a study of the communicative strategy of discrediting implemented in trolling, which is a relatively new type of verbal aggression in the media space, and the study of which is one of the most relevant areas in linguistics. Verbal aggression is characteristic of a multitude of spheres of human activity, but is most vivid in the realm of Internet communications. This can be explained by the unique character of Internet communication, whose features, including anonymity, distance and the absence of a status-based hierarchy, inevitably led to the rise of a form of communication often coloured by aggression. The aim of the study is to identify and describe the features of the discrediting strategy functioning and its communicative tactics. The research is based on the analysis of messages of provocative nature expressed in trolling. The context of the newsgroups of online forums is used in the work. The study is conducted by means of such methods as scientific description, linguistic analysis (contextual, semantic, structural, etc.). An interpretative method is used to study the content peculiarities of the contexts. Following the analysis of social networks messages, the key strategies of discrediting in trolling were determined: insult, mockery and allusion. In the course of the study, the authors concluded that the tactics used as an instrument of influence on the communicant correlate with the type of trolling (traditionally researchers distinguish "thick" and "thin" trolling). The analysed material showed that the strategy of discrediting in "thick" trolling is manifested in the tactics of insult and mockery, openly attacking the target's character. "Thin" trolling, in the majority of cases, is expressed through mockery and allusion; it is used to discredit the identity and status of the other communicant in a veiled, indirect manner. Thus, trolling has a different manifestation, it can be expressed through direct or indirect verbal forms. Particular attention is paid to the description of the specifics of linguistic means and the interpretation of polylogues in which trolling is expressed. The typological features of "thick" and "thin" trolling are taken into account as well. The paper emphasises that the identification of "thick" trolling, as a more "primitive" form of verbal aggression, is not difficult, and recognition of "thin" trolling is often difficult. This necessitates the search for ways to identify and prevent virtual aggression. The analysis of the forum messages has led to the conclusion that one of the most effective ways of levelling verbal aggression is ignoring provocative messages.

Keywords

Authors

References