TY - JOUR 
A1 - Tsoumou, Jean Mathieu
T1 - “What is Wrong With You People That You are Happy Someone has Covid” Impoliteness in the Coronavirus Pandemic Era
Y1 - 2023
SN - 2158-2440
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11268/12098
AB - Whilst the coronavirus pandemic keeps threatening the world at large, little is yet known about the impoliteness implications
of user-generated- Covid-related contents on social media such as Facebook. The aim of this study is to examine the comments made in response to Giuliani’s Covid- 19 diagnosis, from an impoliteness perspective. A merely qualitative analysis of a
dataset of 3,000 comments evenly collected from three different news outlets (i.e., BBC, CNN, Fox News), the findings
reveal that the reactions to Giuliani’s diagnosis are more focused on him being a politician, than him being a human being
affected by the virus. The reactions attack his actions and the actions of others within his political party, which suggests that
impoliteness has a strong dependence on previous actions and political engagement. Giuliani is seen by some users to be
undeserving of compassion or empathy not just on the grounds of his active involvement in attempting to overturn the presidential election results, but also for his disregard toward mask wearing in public spheres. Not all the users, however, appreciate the attacks against Giuliani. Through metadiscursive comments, some users not just feel the need to treat Giuliani as a
human being, but more importantly remind fellow users that Covid-19 should be a concern for all. What is particularly critical about these metacomments is that while the users advocate for civil interactions, they mostly do not condone Giuliani’s
actions. This so because these users understand what should be obligatory, permissible, or forbidden on the human level
under the circumstances.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Ciencias sociales y humanas
KW - Sociología
KW - Comportamiento de grupo
LA - eng
ER -