THE RELATION OF THE USE OF LANGUAGE IN SOCIAL MEDIA
TO POLITENESS AMONG STUDENTS
Monika Astria Br Gultom1, Nicky Felicia Rahmadini2
monika.astria.br-2020@fib.unair.ac.id ; nicky.felicia.rahmadini-2020@fib.unair.ac.id;
Corresponding Author: Monika Astria Br Gultom
monika.astria.br-2020@fib.unair.ac.id
Faculty of Cultural Sciences Campus B, Universitas Airlangga, Jalan Dharmawangsa Dalam
Surabaya, Indonesia. 60286. Tel.: 031-5035807. Fax: 031-5035807
ABSTRACT
Background: This study is about using language in social media to politeness among
students. Many of them pay less attention to the ethics of using language on social media.
The emergence of these harsh languages creates terrible habits related to politeness and
offense in society. Purpose: This study aims to determine the form of speech and the
influence of communication ethics in the digital era on the value of politeness among
students. Methods: This study combines qualitative and quantitative approaches that describe
the data results through analysis and description. Researchers used reference results from
previous studies along with results from questionnaires and interviews that had been
conducted. Results: The results showed that many students still used short forms of language
when communicating on social media. The use of harsh languages is influenced by several
supporting factors such as lack of awareness in language politeness, lack of family education,
and poor socialization environment. Recommendation: This research is intended for
students to be more aware of the importance of ethics in communicating on social
media. Limitation: The lack of respondents and measurement tools in this study makes the
validity of the data found is not very good.
Keywords: Social Media, Language, Politeness
Introduction
Nowadays, the digital era has had a significant impact, especially on how we
communicate. In the past, when we wanted to share with people far away, we had to write a
letter so that the message we wanted to convey was directed to that person. Letters that have
been sent take a long time to reach the recipient, depending on the distance and the type of
stamps given. Therefore, letters are considered one of the slow communication intermediaries
and cause less interest by the public in the digital era. The results show that the development
of science and technology has made it easier for people to find information and communicate
online through smartphones and other digital platforms. In addition, these technological
developments threaten the existence of printed newspapers, which has resulted in many
newspaper companies going bankrupt, with many online media emerging and offering more
practical access for the public (Permana and Abdullah, 2020).
According to the data found, users' gadgets in Indonesia have overgrown. As many as
89% of the entire population in Indonesia have used smartphones as a medium of
communication and information in their daily life. In addition, with the emergence of various
social media sites such as Whatsapp, Line, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, and others, people
prefer to communicate using these applications.
In addition, with easy access to social media applications, people, especially students,
use gadgets more often every day, both to communicate, find information, and even for other
digital businesses. According to research by Hootsuite (We are Social): Indonesian Digital
Report 2021, 73.7% of the total population in Indonesia uses the internet for an average of 9
hours per day. With the frequent use of social media, there has been a significant change in
everyday language, which has brought many new habits of communication, especially for
students. So with changes in the form of language in touch, there is an ethical shift that
affects the value of politeness between students and the surrounding community.
The forms of language used by students on social media are non-formal language,
sarcasm, slang, or harsh language with abbreviations. Because there are no boundaries for
communicating on social media, the norms in communication are often ignored and offend
each other. Therefore, communication ethics is essential to know and apply to minimize
offense in social life. The forms of communication ethics in question include etiquette or
politeness norms in communicating. In this all-digital era of globalization, it is essential to
control politeness in social media.
Reference Gap
Previous research on communication ethics has been published in an article
entitled Penggunaan Kata Sarkasme dalam Berkomunikasi di Kalangan Mahasiswa (Man,
Merentek & Runtuwene, 2021). This study discusses the use of sarcasm or harsh words to
communicate with the sophistication of the internet for students. However, this study does
not examine the form of language that students in the digital era often use. In addition, from
the research presented, no research discusses the effect of using language in communication,
especially on the value of politeness for students in the digital era.
Previous research raises several questions that become the primary reference in this
study, including “What is the form of language used in communicating both orally and in
writing in the digital era?”. Therefore, researchers are interested in research on this topic.
Research Methods
This study explores the use of social media and language behavior used by students
based on the theory’s uses and effects. Research respondents include active students from
various universities in Indonesia and have collected as many as 100 respondents. This study
uses random sampling methods to select samples in the fulfillment of the data. The model
was chosen randomly without restrictions on a university, faculty, study program, year of
entry, or gender.
Data was collected by distributing questionnaires and online interviews. The list of
questions submitted to the respondents consisted of (1) how important is social media in the
digital era for students; (2) the level of importance of social media in the digital era for
students; (3) the purpose of using social media in the digital era for students; (4) the most
frequently used social media by students; (5) the importance of communication ethics and
what the ethical values of good communication are on social media; (6) application of
communication ethics on social media; (7) the level of application of communication ethics
on social media; (8) things that are often done on social media; (9) the form of language used
when communicating on social media; (10) reasons students use harsh language when
communicating on social media; (11) regret using harsh language when communicating on
social media; (12) the effect of using harsh language on social media; (13) the opinion of
respondents regarding the influence of rude language on the value of politeness.
In addition to being based on the theory of use and effect to predict respondent
behavior, this study also uses qualitative and quantitative approaches by describing the data
results through analysis and description. The data collected from this approach is easier to
analyze to complement previous research. So, the results of this research will be more
systematic and relevant then the answers collected can be concluded simply and clearly. To
clarify this research process, the flow chart has been attached below.
3.1 Flowchart of the research process Research
Results
From fifteen (15) questions asked in the questionnaire with 100 respondents, it has
been found that from a range of values 1-5, more than 50% of students answered with a score
of 5 regarding the importance of social media for them. Therefore, a value of 5 is the highest
value to show that social media plays a vital role in supporting activities carried out by
students.
In the following question, 28% of respondents answered that they had used the word
sarcasm when communicating on social media, 29% responded that they had spoken at will
when sharing on social media, 38% answered that they were accustomed to using regional
languages, 4% of respondents have done body shaming on social media, and 1% of
respondents responded otherwise.
It is known that out of 100 respondents who have participated in filling out the
questionnaire, as many as 55% of respondents have answered that the reason they use harsh
words on social media is that they are angry or upset, 66% of other respondents responded
that they use harsh words when joking, 19% answered that they use harsh words when they
are sad. Not only that, 10% of the total respondents said that when they were bored, they also
used short words, 28% said they used harsh words when they were disappointed, and the rest
rarely or even did not use rude comments on social media.
The use of harsh words on social media affects everyday life. It was obtained from
67% of student responses who said that the use of abusive language could affect reducing
mutual respect, 44% said that it could minimize tolerance, 70% of respondents answered that
the use of harsh words could increase arbitrary attitudes, 73 % responded that abusive
comments on social media could hurt other people's feelings, 54% answered that using harsh
words can cause conflict. Others answered that the impact of using harsh words on social
media on daily life depends on the person and the given context. A table has been created to
clarify the contents of the questionnaire results, as shown below.
Indicator
The importance of social
Value 1
Value 2
Value 3
Value 4
(not
(very
important)
important)
0
0
0
0
media in the digital era
The importance of social
100
(100%)
0
media
The importance of good
Value 5
0
1
8
34
57
(1%)
(8%)
(34%)
(57%)
0
0
0
100
communication ethics in social
(100%)
media
The application of
communication ethics in social
media
0
0
31
(31%)
0
69
(69%)
The level of application of
0
0
communication ethics in social
19
63
18
(19)
(63%)
(18%)
51
0
45
media
Regret using abusive language
on social media
Respondents opinion
regarding the effect of abusive
4
0
(4%)
5
(5 %)
(51%)
0
0
(45%)
0
95
(95%)
language on politeness scores
Discussion
The digital era today has a very significant impact, especially on how we
communicate. Every year, the use of technology such as gadgets has increased rapidly.
Devices become a benchmark for the progress of a country. It is noted that almost all people
in Indonesia have used gadgets to communicate, seek information, and do business. In
addition, many social media applications are intentionally created to meet the needs of
socialization that can connect people from various parts of the world (Cholilah, 2021).
Most social media users are students from the survey that we have shared. This shows
that the use of social media is high because social media plays a significant role in supporting
academic and non-academic activities carried out by students. However, along with the
development of social media users, it raises many problems and significant changes related to
the value of politeness (Putri, 2021). Many students begin to forget the importance of using
polite language in social media, even though each individual must have the ability to control
their activities (Rianto, 2019). Evidently, of the 32 countries surveyed, Indonesia is ranked
29th with a low level of politeness (Ardiani et al., 2021). The use of slang, sarcasm and other
forms of disrespectful language is their way of communicating to friends to express closeness
or as a joke. But if they ignore who the sarcasm or slang is used, people will consider it a bad
habit and disrespectful.
It is known that students use slang or slang and use sarcasm, which seems impolite.
Examples of abusive language that they often use are anjing, anjir, asu,bangsat, cok, and a
mixture of other regional languages with bad connotations such as jancuk. Students in
different areas use these harsh languages. The word anjing, anjir, and bangsat are coarse
language that is often found in Jakarta. Meanwhile, asu, cok, and jancuk are often used by
students from Surabaya. The harsh language, but some students also use sarcasm to make fun
of other people. In the case of body shaming, they use expressions such as ndut, gajah,
and babi to describe the person they are referring to. For young people such as students, using
this language is natural to familiarize themselves with. However, according to the parents'
view, this language is a form of sarcasm considered impolite, especially for the interlocutor.
When viewed from their habit of using harsh language or slang, several supporting
factors encourage students to use it. Slang, sarcasm, and other forms of impolite language are
used because (1) the level of awareness in language politeness is lacking. Many students do
not realize that politeness in the language is fundamental to apply. A weak understanding of
language can make students wrong in expressing action and using language that is not polite
and appropriate; (2) inappropriate family upbringing. Some families don't care about their
family members using good language. They rarely advise or give examples of politeness in
communicating, so this habit continues into adulthood. (3) and the last is the unfavorable
social environment. Students often do activities outside and meet many people with different
characters. The more often you adapt to the crowd, the more new languages will be used and
become a habit. To familiarize themselves and find topics that become a joke, students
usually use sarcasm or informal slang. From these factors, students become accustomed to
using sarcasm or slang with older people or people they do not know.
According to research surveys, students use sarcasm in certain situations, such as
angry or upset. Unstable and uncontrolled emotions can trigger harsh words when
communicating with others. When angry or upset, someone can no longer prioritize
politeness in communicating because they will focus on venting their anger. So that on social
media, we often find abusive language that mentions the names of animals aimed at certain
accounts and other swear words. However, students often use sarcasm to indicate their joy
through jokes with friends. This form of joke is self-expression that shows closeness with
other friends. So that students often communicate with their friends using sarcastic language
so that they don't seem stiff and can express that feeling of pleasure. For example: “Gua lagi
seneng banget hari ini anjir”. Students prefer to use slang that seems impolite. Still, for most
students, it is very reasonable to use "Hari ini saya sangat bahagia," which looks very formal
and does not contain any jokes in it. Not a few also use short forms of language when they
feel sad and disappointed. As a result of emotions that are difficult for them to control, they
tend to vent these feelings by using words that are not polite.
All the factors mentioned earlier indeed impact the feelings of regret felt by students.
According to the survey, many of them do not feel remorse after using this form of language
because they do not know how badly it affects the value of politeness in society. No one
rebuked them for stopping using such abusive language. However, once they regret it, they
will keep repeating it. That's because they have used offensive language as a language of
daily communication, and it has become a habit that is hard to break. If the application of
good communication ethics is not carried out continuously, the morals of the younger
generation will fade and can damage the nation's image.
The use of harsh words on social media affects students' lives. They assume that
slang, sarcasm, and other forms of disrespectful language can reduce mutual respect. This is
because harsh language indicates a lack of respect for others. In addition, abusive language is
also considered inappropriate to communicate with friends, especially older people. In
addition, the use of harsh language in communicating also increases the sense of arbitrariness
to others. Complex language makes us feel superior to others, so it is often considered an
arbitrary act. Without students realizing it, the use of harsh language often hurts the feelings
of others. Even though we use offensive language to friends with the intention of joking,
sometimes the language spoken can make an impression on someone's heart. They never
know what the other person is thinking and feeling, so it could be that harsh words that are
uttered can hurt them. As a result, heartache can lead to more significant problems such as
conflict. There are many cases of disputes involving students just because they
misunderstood to the point of being hurt because of the harsh language that was spoken. This
dispute can cause a lot of loss and loss of life. And lastly, some of the students also thought
that using harsh words when communicating on social media in daily life depends on the
given context. They do not believe that harsh words can ultimately affect the value of
politeness in society as long as they know when to control it.
Based on interviews with parents, there are 5 main subjects: "A, B, C, D, and E" it
turns out that many students communicate more often using social media using slang to
people who are older than them. The interview subjects assessed how students communicate
on social media with their parents. It turns out that they are accustomed to using slang
because it is more practical and less formal so that it is easier to describe expressions through
typing messages. However, according to the subject, the habit of slang words is inappropriate
when spoken to older people because the language is rude and does not have polite ethics in
talking to parents.
The results of interviews with subject A said that slang in communication is
permissible. Slang does not always contain harsh meanings but tends to non-formal language
to make it easier for them to interpret a language. Therefore, according to subject A, it doesn't
matter if students use slang to their parents but still have to know the limits of the language so
that it doesn't lead to sarcasm. This explanation is also supported by subject B, who said that
his child, who is a student, may use slang to communicate with people who are older and they
know, but not for other people who are not too close. According to him, slang can increase
the closeness between parents and children and other family members. He does not want
language that is too formal to affect his relationship with the child.
In contrast to the previous opinion, subject C said that using slang when
communicating can damage the rules of good and correct Indonesian so that the position of
formal Indonesian is eroded and displaced by the vernacular. Subject C also said that students
prefer to abbreviate a word to seem harsher when spoken to parents. For example, when
parents want to ask their children. “Kamu mau pergi kemana?” and the child
answered, “Gua mo pegi cangkruk ni bu”. The child often gives this kind of answer to
subject C, so that subject C does not agree if students use slang to communicate with older
students.
Like subject C, subject D also does not agree if students often use slang. Slang can
offend society and give a wrong view of the upbringing of parents to the child. Not everyone
can accept the existence of slang because they should use good and correct Indonesian. So
that in some contexts, the family is often blamed by other people because the child uses
sarcasm when communicating. Subject E added that the way a person speaks in some areas
must be highly regulated. Because in some areas, the ethics of politeness is highly upheld and
those who violate it will be underestimated and become a public conversation for the local
community. Therefore, subject E opposes students who use slang when talking to older
people. They must pay attention to etiquette, especially their parents.
Conclusion
Based on the research that has been done, it is known that there is a relationship
between the use of harsh language on social media and student politeness which is triggered
by factors such as (1) lack of awareness in language politeness; (2) students' lack of
sensitivity to the placement of sarcasm or slang to their parents; (3) and the last is the
unfavorable social environment.
Students as the nation's next generation should be more aware of the importance of
politeness in communication and language to avoid offending the community. In addition,
parents, teachers, and lecturers must educate their children and students to always
communicate in a good and polite language. Educational institutions of schools and
universities must pay attention to various programs of academic and non-academic activities
that can assist students in developing an ethical understanding of politeness and language.
The limitation of this study is that there are too few respondents to represent all
students in Indonesia. The validity of the data found does not guarantee the reality in society.
It would be better if more respondents to the questionnaire came from private and public
universities in Indonesia. More data were found to represent each question from this research.
In addition, more and more interview respondents for parents in providing assessments and
suggestions for students who use social media.
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