Practice Of Face-Work Strategies On Corporate Official Microblog

Face and face-work are important cultural mechanisms in social interactions.With the dynamic development of society and technology, social interaction on the social network has become an inseparable part of modern people’s life. This thesis aims to examine features and practice of corporate face-work strategies on the social media context.Based on the theoretical framework of Penman’s face-work micro-strategies(1990), and through content analysis and case study, this research analyzes the face-work strategies on the official micro-blog of Nongfu Spring in order to answer three research questions: 1).What are the most popular face-work strategies on corporate micro-blog? 2). What kinds of face-work strategies have been used by corporate users in dealing with negative public reactions? 3). Are the face-work strategies of corporate micro-blog different from those in the traditional media of communication?The research results show that firstly, the most frequently face-work strategies employed by Nongfu Spring are enhancing the positive face of self,enhancing the positive face of other and protecting the negative face of self;secondly, in times of facing negative public comments, corporate users would frequently aggravate the negative face of other; lastly, compared to the traditional Chinese face-work strategies, which emphasizes politeness and respect when interacting with strangers, corporate tends to treat strangers(followers) as intimate friends in the social media context.The present research further expands the study of face and face-work and provides guidance for corporate users to maintain face-work in the use of socialmedia especially in dealing with negative public reaction in times of crisis.