DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2020.v08i04.004

Pages: 185-196

The emergence of internet-enabled communication has made computer-mediated discourse a daily routine nowadays. Consequent on this, the face of communication has changed a lot as regards acceptable behavior in communication. This paper examines impoliteness in computer-mediated discourse with particular focus on online comments on political articles in the Nigerian newspaper. Using Culpeper’s (1996 and 2003) impoliteness strategies, the work x-rays the causes and types of impoliteness building on such notions as flaming and trolling as regards impoliteness. Findings revealed that impoliteness is not directed only at the content of the article but mostly at the person mentioned in the article, and the comments of the online users. The study also indicated that netizens exhibit a form of power because of the anonymity of the internet and display the same attitude found in face-to-face communication dispute in the real world but with a more intense emotiveness. In all, it is virtually impossible to inflame without being impolite. This study contributes to the growing literature on impoliteness focusing on the causes and types of impoliteness strategies in Nigerian online newspaper political discourse.