Cyberpragmatics: Complaints and the Collective Perspective

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this article is to lay some groundwork for expanding the study of speech act pragmatics within the cyber-world. For this purpose, we have investigated complaints in Hebrew online, in an attempt to highlight features that distinguish online communication from face-to-face communication. We have analysed complaints in three major spheres: a) complaints towards public institutions, b) complaints against commercial firms and c) sharing complaints for the common benefit of a social community. In all instances, complainers online co-construct the context and the shared knowledge of the offence (complainable). Like many other studies of online communication, we too found a tendency towards uncivil or aggressive expressions (Vladimirou et al., 2021) especially when there was no hope for “repair” of the situation (ex: these damned people lie to us (in Hebrew ‘arurim’)). Furthermore, there were individual complainers who used the online platform to gain social and political power presenting themselves as defenders of justice and of the well-being of the community.