Japanese referent honorifics in computer-mediated communication

In the anonymous environment of comment sections on Japanese news sites, informal and non-honorific styles are generally used. Commenters usually do not know other participants, and third person referents are normally absent and unlikely to read the posts, making the use of referent honorific forms seemingly unnecessary. However, drawing upon data from readers' comments on online news articles, this study finds that Japanese internet users do employ referent honorifics, albeit relatively infrequently, for various discourse purposes. While some honorifics convey deference or politeness, others are used for the opposite purpose: namely, to convey impoliteness, through verbal attacks on other interlocutors or referents. Honorifics used impolitely often cooccur with other linguistic impoliteness strategies, which provide contextual cues to guide readers' understanding. The article concludes that the choice to use referent honorifics is influenced by multiple factors, including commonly agreed-upon social norms and posters' attitudes towards the issues or persons being discussed.