Pragmatic Strategies and Language Politeness in Declarative Speech Acts of Indonesian Public Officials on the TikTok Platform
Keywords:
language strategies, leadership, performative language, political communication, public discourseAbstract
The research work is being conducted due to the increasing popularity of using social media, especially TikTok, as a platform for communication through which leaders communicate their policies to the public. This trend marks the change in the pattern of communication from the conventional spaces to the more open and interactive digital spaces. However, linguistic studies, especially in the field of pragmatics, are still limited in examining how declarative speech acts and politeness strategies operate in the context of short video-based social media. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the forms and functions of declarative speech acts and politeness strategies used by leaders in public communication via TikTok. This study uses a qualitative approach with a descriptive design. Data in the form of utterances in TikTok content delivered by leaders are analyzed using pragmatic matching methods and distribution methods. The analysis is carried out through theory-based coding techniques that refer to the classification of declarative speech acts and politeness strategies. The results of the study indicate that speech can be categorized into nine declarative types, namely (1) inauguration, (2) launch, (3) announcement, (4) policy determination, (5) regulatory ratification, (6) disciplinary, (7) appointment, (8) religious determination, and (9) symbolic naming. In addition, politeness strategies were found in the form of the use of inclusive pronouns, collective greetings, religious expressions, and formal legitimacy through references to authority and rules. In conclusion, the communication practices of leaders on TikTok show that pragmatic complexity is maintained in the digital medium. Declarative speech acts and politeness strategies play an important role in the effectiveness of policy communication and the formation of public legitimacy in the social media era.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Zahy Riswahyudha Ariyanto, Harun Joko Prayitno (Author)
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