Internetiniai sporto ir politikos straipsnių komentuotojų slapyvardžiai

JUDITA DŽĖŽULSKIENĖ Kaunas University of Technology NICKNAMES OF COMMENTERS ON ONLINE SPORTS AND POLITICS ARTICLES KEYWORDS: online nickname, comment genre, electronic discourse. The Internet is a special electronic medium in which not only is a new variety of language used—speaking by writing or writing by speaking (Crystal 2001: 238), and new online genres—but new conditions also arise for anthroponyms to function. Anyone wishing to use the communication tools provided by the Internet (email, chat sites, conferences, social networks) must register a name. The most common forms of anthroponyms used online are a login name (username, login) or an online nickname (nickname). Thus, virtual names are necessary to gain access to the electronic environment, identify oneself there, and participate in virtual communication. However, it often happens that a chosen name cannot be registered, since identical names cannot exist in the same virtual environment. In addition, a registered name must meet technical requirements: it must not only be unique, but its character string is also expected to include digits or symbols. Stricter requirements apply only to names that must be unique and unknown to others; online nicknames, by contrast, are visible to all participants in virtual communication and are essential for successful self-introduction and interaction. In the context of information technology, a new opportunity has emerged to create one’s own “self,” first discernible from the nickname presented in electronic discourse. An online nickname, or pseudonym, is a false, invented virtual name for a person, usually chosen not by someone else (parents, other people) but by the communicator themselves (Bechar-Israeli 1995). It is selected from a list of available or existing names, or newly created. An online nickname can be anything, from a punctuation mark 230 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 84 or a digit. All that is known about a communicator in the virtual environment is their nickname—the first sign identifying the person, intended to serve several purposes. An online nickname is used not only to introduce oneself, but also to be recognized and attract attention (Crystal 2001: 50). The choice of a nickname in the virtual environment is influenced by many non-linguistic factors. In the past, Lithuanian pseudonyms were most often used in literature or when political circumstances were unfavorable to Lithuanian identity. They were used in an effort to conceal the author’s real details: gender, age, and profession (Būtėnas 1981). Nowadays, online nicknames not only conceal identity but often create a new one, incorporating characteristics significant to the author. Virtual communication provides a favorable environment for creating a particular image (Stommel 2007). It has been observed that nickname choice depends on the author’s gender (Subrahmanyam, Greenfield, Tynes 2004; Андрианова 2009) and age (Scheidt 2001). In some cases, a person wants to play a role; in others, to create a particular impression. Thus, creating or choosing a nickname is related not only to the author but also to those for whom it is intended. The nature of electronic communication allows communicators to play particular roles by putting on masks (Danet 1998). But once a mask is put on, the corresponding role must also be played. Over time, this role may become burdensome (Hiltz, Turoff 1994: 95 from Ryklienė 2001). A change in the topic of communication may also require a different role. It is therefore understandable that one person may have many nicknames and not limit themselves to one or three virtual names. A comment on an online article, like an online chat, creates a situation of communication here and now. However, linguists note that this virtual genre differs from other online genres in that it is meaningful only in conjunction with the text being commented on, other comments, and the broader situational context, which requires background knowledge (Marcin-kevičienė 2006: 60). Therefore, although the thematic groups of nicknames used by commenters on online articles resemble the groups of virtual names used in online chat rooms (Bechar-Israeli 1995) or emails (Ryklienė 2001: 85), they also have many specific features related to the article being commented on, the content of the comment being written, other comments, and the discourse community interacting with one another. In earlier studies, English-language online nicknames used in chat rooms were classified into 16 thematic groups (Bechar-Israeli 1995). A synthesis of these groups suggests that online nicknames can be personal- J. DŽĖŽULSKIENĖ. Internetiniai sporto ir politikos straipsnių komentuotojų slapyvardžiai 231 names, states, interests, professions or other activities, inhabitants, holders of traits, names of flora, fauna and objects, and nicknames as word and sound play or phrases. Research into Lithuanian pseudonyms has largely been limited to literary or other pseudonyms appearing in the Lithuanian press (Biržiška 1943; Būtenas 1981; Mačiulis 2008). Asta Ryklienė (2001), in her study of the features of electronic mail, also discussed pseudonyms found there. However, pseudonyms arising from the communication opportunities offered by online publications have not yet been examined, although the genre of comments is currently quite popular in online discourse. This article discusses how writers of online comments identify themselves when responding to and reacting to articles published in cyberspace. The article seeks to reveal the motives behind the creation of pseudonyms and reviews the features of their use in online discourse. The analysis focuses on comments on online sports and political articles (October and November 2009), collected from one of the most popular internet news websites, www.lrytas.lt. The research material consists of 1,000 commenters’ names and their functional equivalents—500 from each of the two topics. Approximately one third of the material collected (36 percent) consists of functional equivalents of commenters’ nicknames, which can be understood as part of an online article comment: a headline, the beginning of the text, an expression of opinion, or an indication of the addressee being addressed. These reveal the aims of commenters’ interactive participation in electronic discourse: the desire to respond and express a view on ideas voiced in the article or in other comments. Nicknames of this kind are especially numerous in comments on online articles about politics. An examination of this group shows that, when responding, commenters seek maximum economy and use the field intended for a nickname as a place to provide the comment’s headline (how they took in the paupers, WHY DO THIEVES RULE), or to begin writing the comment itself (I suggest, but actually, I respect Kreivis). This approach helps draw readers’ attention to the comment’s author or the position they hold. Instead of writing a nickname, linguistic or paralinguistic elements express surprise, concern, (dis)agreement, joy, or other emotions (oh, well there you go, CHA, yeah,!!!,:D,:))??), which are readily understood in the context of the article being commented on or of other comments. Twenty percent of commenters choose meaningless nicknames—combinations of letters, symbols, and digits whose semantic content is difficult to determine: nml, /o\, v, SS, 5757. This may indicate that, for some commenters, introducing themselves while commenting on political or sports articles on the www.lrytas.lt website is not always important. 232 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 84 They want to be admitted as quickly as possible into virtual space for interpersonal communication. The remainder of the collected material (44 percent) can be considered genuine nicknames, which are discussed in greater detail in this article. Using genuine nicknames collected from commenters on sports and political articles on the website www.lrytas.lt, the authors seek to identify their identity: to give their name, indicate their affiliation with a social, professional, or other group, point to a personal trait, or identify with someone or something (a well-known person, a character from a film or literary work, an animal, or a plant). The distribution of such nicknames across comments on different topics is shown in Table 1. TABLE 1. Online nicknames in comments on www.lrytas.lt Nickname type Political comments (percent) Sports comments (percent) Personal name genuine 32 42 precedent-based 19 19 By affiliation with a territory (nationality, place of residence or origin) 11 9 with an institution 3 5 with a group (one’s own) 5 3 By social characteristics activity (profession, occupation) 1 5 kinship ties 2 0 social status 5 0 situation or evaluation (names of animals, plants, supernatural beings) 3 5 According to personal characteristics personality traits 5 5 Random names of inanimate objects 14 7 The largest proportion of commenters who write choose pseudonyms that contain a personal name. Those writing about political topics use them somewhat less often than those commenting on sports topics. Most likely, this pseud- J. DŽEŽULSKIENĖ. Internetiniai sporto ir politikos straipsnių komentuotojų slapyvardžiai 233 This group of names is chosen when one wishes to remain faithful to one’s own first name, surname, or nickname, or does not wish to stand out too much from others. However, it is not always clear whether the chosen personal name actually corresponds to the person’s real name. When commenting, authors usually give only a first name: Daiva, Algis, Laima, Rokaz, barbo- ra, stasys, ieva, Gintaras, Algimantas, vytas, audrius. This indicates that participants in communication interact as equals, since the use of a surname could hinder the development of a friendly relationship, being perceived as a marker of distance or difference in status between communicators. The collected material contained only two cases in which commenters introduced themselves by first and last name (dmitrij solovjov, Benjamin Disraeli), and several cases in which only a surname was used (aurimavičius, val uev). Non-Lithuanian personal names may also reflect different traditions of cultural communication. Sometimes, to emphasize the informality and familiarity of communication, authors give a slang variant of a name (zoska, FELKA, Zagmas, tomys, arcius, jole) or use a diminutive form (Juliukas). And, wishing to be unique and one of a kind, they add a digit (Algimantas 2), change capitalization (romas, EDAS), or otherwise make their nickname visually distinctive. Although multiword online personal names do occur (ANŪPRAS IŠ ŽALAVO), one-word nicknames predominate in this group, in keeping with the principle of communicative economy. An online nickname may also be a precedent name—that is, the personal name of a well-known person. Commenters readily identify with popular public figures, artists, and characters from the Bible, works of fiction, or films. When commenting on political articles, they choose the surname of a well-known politician or cultural figure (BUROKEVIČIUS, Uspaskich, K.Starkevicius, Dirmeikis, Kuzia, Čiurlionis, Pik asas***) or the name of a criminal (Henytė). Personal names can also be modified to convey the author’s attitudes—usually negative—toward a particular person (Kubilas, Uspaskich is Briu selio). Commenters writing on both sports and politics choose character names from humorous television programs (Tinta, tata, cololo, lalaila, pilypukas), films (Simsons, tadas blinda, 007), operas (figaro), popular jokes (Petriukas), works of fiction (Juzė), and religious texts (jezus, mikalda). By choosing nicknames in this subgroup, commenters seek to highlight some characteristic of a well-known person that matters to the author commenting on the virtual text. Sometimes the context of the situation reveals why the commenter chose that particular name. For example, Mik alda is the one who proclaims prophecies, while Figaro is a character known for his resourcefulness. A review of this group of nicknames reveals that, in order to understand the motives behind choosing precedent names, one must have sufficient background knowledge and take the situational context into account. 234 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 84 understand the motives behind choosing precedent names, one must have sufficient background knowledge and take the situational context into account. Another group of nicknames used by commenters on political and sports articles reflects certain social attributes of the author, indicating affiliation with a social, professional, or national group, or with a group defined by particular interests. Authors commenting on both political and sports articles most often wish to indicate national affiliation (jankis, lietuvis, Norvegas, lietuvių lietuvis, maskolis, britas) or identify themselves by their origin or place of residence (Šiaulietis, klaipėdietis, Šiaulių Pietinis, airija, iš Kauno, usa, chicago). Commenters on political articles do not shy away from nicknames denoting an exceptional social status (Grafienė, Belgų karalius, Tremtinys, senis, Bomzh, Valkata) or family relationships (mocia, tevas). Pronouns such as mes, aš, toks vienas, TA indicate allegiance to oneself (loyalty to one’s own views) or to one’s group. Sometimes a proper name or its abbreviation is chosen as a nickname: the name of a political organization (tskp), a state institution (UkMin), a well-known sports team (žalgiris, arsenal, LRytas), or a popular television program or channel (Dv ir ačio žynios, Bbs, VIASAT). By identifying themselves in this way, commenters indicate their orientation and views, seek to name the organization they represent, wish to appear important and competent, and claim to have strong arguments for expressing their opinions. The nicknames used by commenters on different article topics indicate different occupations and interests: partizanas, dekanas, prezidentė, turyst, Vagis, Pedofilija occur in comments on political articles; Eilinis, buvęs sportininkas, LR sirgalius, Žalgirio fanas, Žalgirietis, Barsietis occur in comments on sports. The connection between nicknames and the topic of the article being commented on indicates clear purposive motives among commenters when choosing a particular role and its corresponding mask, which obliges them to act accordingly. Very rarely do commenters on online articles choose nicknames related to nature. Most are zoomorphisms, describing a person through a characteristic or stereotypical attribute of the animal named: lama, asilelis, kurmis, lokiuks, peleda, kiaula. Animal names are more common as nicknames in comments on sports articles. A few authors commenting on political topics chose nicknames denoting plants: Dilgele, kanapė. The collected material also contained nicknames denoting supernatural beings (god, Kipšas, nelabs). It is difficult to predict why commenters identify themselves with words denoting inanimate objects (kryzius, vamzdis, aitvaras, Suris, wall). These nicknames are therefore considered arbitrary, with unclear motivation. J. DŽĖŽULSKIENĖ. Internetiniai sporto ir politikos straipsnių komentuotojų slapyvardžiai 235 A small proportion of the collected nicknames indicate a character trait chosen and attributed to oneself by the commenter, or reflect a state usually associated with the moment when the comment is written. Occasionally, commenters use nicknames to highlight a lack of competence or their incidental participation in virtual communication: debilas, mulkius, žalias, FUKSAS; conversely, they may emphasize a desire to dominate among communicators: pirmas, įsažinis (that is, visažinis), Žinantis, SPRENDEJAS. Nicknames can reflect the entire range of emotions—from anger, sadness, and dejection to joy and satisfaction. Comments on political articles were most often accompanied by ironic nicknames: kirvis, zyza, Optimiste, komikas, klaunas, cirkininkas, OBJEKTYVUS, pri-slėgta, saunuole, while sports topics drew comments from authors who had chosen the following nicknames: Patriotas, pasikeles, nusivyles, nepatriotas, Blaivus. Nicknames of this kind signal to other readers the direction of the content written by the commenter. An analysis of the nicknames used by commenters on articles on the www.lrytas.lt website reveals that online names are characterized by distinctive visual presentation. First, graphic devices are quite important, as they help a name stand out visually from other names. Often, the way a name is written is determined not only by technical possibilities but also by the set of names already present in the online list of commenters. For example, different commenters introducing themselves by the same name may write the same nickname in several ways: MINDAUGAS, Mindaugas, MINDE, minde; ruta, ruta; Jonas, Jonas2, jonas. It is worth discussing several of the most characteristic linguistic transformations found in nicknames. First, there is an apparent deliberate desire to break established spelling norms, omitting diacritics, capital letters, and letters denoting long vowels (mikas, ona, tskp, arunas). Unusual spelling is often used in nicknames, as in online spaces more generally (macaulė, Victoras, Bomzh, Rokaz), while Lithuanian letters—usually č, š, ž, ė—are not used (Ricka, aurimavicius, ausra, kryzius, Brone). To make nicknames distinctive, digits and symbols are incorporated into names (Algimantas 2, cheal-sea4ever, viko200, Pikasa***), capitalization is altered (EGLĖ, MuzikAli), or the language register is changed (makulatura_sucks). Since the possibilities for visual presentation are limited, communicators seek unusual stylistic effects and wish to express in a new way what has been named blandly, in worn-out terms. Sometimes, for the sake of appeal and pragmatic effect, foreign words are used (rucka, igetmoney, lorenzo, danielle, DeMarco, De_Saint), as are slang forms (Vycka, Min-de), while words are distorted (is Briukselio) or language norms are otherwise transgressed. 236 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 84 shortened forms. It can be seen that nicknames may be shortened by dropping endings (turyst), vowels in endings or roots (nelabs). By using syllabic (UkMin) or alphabetic abbreviations (tskp, bbs, usa), communicators seek to convey more extensive content in a concise form and rely on the background knowledge of other comment authors. In summary, nicknames used by commenters on political and sports articles on the news website www.lrytas.lt can be said to be a significant part of the comment genre, reflecting the commenter’s self-expression, desire to promote themselves and be unique, and wish to evaluate and respond anonymously. Genuine nicknames were much less common (44%) on www.lrytas.lt than functional substitutes serving as comment headings or addressees, or meaningless combinations of symbols and letters. A review of genuine nicknames suggests that commenters most often identify themselves using personal names or allusive names, and indicate their nationality, origin, or place of residence. The fact that many nicknames relate exclusively to sports or politics shows that they are created spontaneously when commenting, with particular aims and in response to the situation, the article’s topic, and other comments. The choice of graphic devices, the breaking of established spelling rules, and the search for stylistic effect through unusual means of linguistic expression show that, for many commenters, the expressiveness and originality of a nickname are important, as the success of online communication depends on them. L I T E R A T U R E Bechar-Israeli H. 1995: From <Bonehead> to <cLoNeHeAd>: Nicknames, play, and identity on Internet Relay Chat. – Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 1(2). Prieiga per internetą: http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol1/issue2/bechar.html, (žiūrėta 2011 08 11). Biržiška V. 1943: Lietuviškieji slapyvardžiai ir slapyraidės. – Bibliografijos žinios 2, Kaunas. Būtėnas J. 1981: Pseudonimai arba slapyvardžiai, Vilnius: Vaga. Crystal D. 2001: Language and the Internet, Cambridge: CUP. Danet B. 2004: Text as Mask: Gender, Play and Performance on the Internet. – Cyberspace 2.0 Computer-Mediated Communication and Community, London, New Delhi: Sage Publications, 129–158. Mačiulis J. 2008: Apie lietuviškus slapyvardžius, Vilnius: Lietuvos nacionalinė Martyno Mažvydo biblioteka. J. DŽĖŽULSKIENĖ. Internetiniai sporto ir politikos straipsnių komentuotojų slapyvardžiai 237 Marcinkevičienė R. 2006: Internetinių straipsnių komentarai žanriniu aspektu. – Filologija 11, 57–60. Ryklienė A. 2001: Lietuvių kalba internete: automatiškai kartojami elektroninio laiško elementai. – Lituanistica 2(46), 76–93. Scheidt L. A. 2001: Avatars and Nicknames in Adolescent Chat Spaces. – Lois Ann Scheidt Academic Webpage. Prieiga per internetą: http://www.lois-scheidt.com/working_papers_archive/Avatars_and_Nicknames.pdf (žiūrėta 2011 09 10). Stommel W. 2007: Mein nick bin ich! Nicknames in a German forum on eating disorders. – Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13(1). Prieiga per internetą: http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/stommel.html (žiūrėta 2011 09 10). Subrahmanyam K., Greenfield P. M., Tynes B. 2004: Constructing sexuality and identity in an online teen chat room. – Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 25(6), 65–666. Андрианова Н. С. 2009: Ник посетителя чата как речевой поступок. – Мовознавство. Східнослов’янська філологія, Вип. 17. Received 2011 09 15 INTERNET NICKNAMES OF THE AUTHORS OF THE COMMENTS OF SPORTS AND POLITICAL ARTICLES Summary The internet space is a very specific electronic medium with new features favourable for the functioning of personal names. An internet nickname, or a pseudonym, is a false virtual personal name, assumed by a recipient himself/herself rather than given by somebody else (parents, other people). By assuming a nickname, a person wants to be identified, attract other people’s attention rather than just introduce himself/herself. The choice of a virtual nickname is determined by a number of non-linguistic factors. Previously Lithuanian nicknames were mostly used in literature or for political reasons by figures of Lithuanian national movement. The nicknames were mostly used to disguise the actual personal data of the author: gender, age and profession. Nowadays internet nicknames do not only disguise the recipient’s identity, but often also create a new identity. To ensure successful communication, the new identity has features most relevant to the author. 238 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 84 Nowadays the genre of comments, fairly popular in the internet discourse, emerges as a result of opportunities of communication offered by internet publications. The paper analyses the names assumed by the authors of internet comments who reply and react to articles published in the electronic space. The data has been collected from www.lrytas.lt, a site of political and sports news. The research results have demonstrated that part of the collected data could be treated as true nicknames, whereas the others are their functional equivalents, replacing the title, beginning of the comment or the addressee’s reference. The overview of true nicknames leads to a conclusion that the commentators make ample use of personal names, nationality, place of origin or living; less frequently they indicate their social status, professional or other affiliation, refer to a characteristic feature. To ensure their attractiveness or successful pragmatic effect, they often violate the language norm applicable to the structure and spelling of language units. KEY WORDS: internet nickname, genre of comments, electronic discourse. JUDITA DŽEŽULSKIENĖ Kaunas University of Technology Gedimino St. 43, LT-44240 Kaunas [email protected] J. DŽEŽULSKIENĖ. Internetiniai sporto ir politikos straipsnių komentuotojų slapyvardžiai 239