Abstract: CMC and notably social networking sites appear to empower their users to express their views freely. The paper investigates manifestations of an unorthodox online behaviour, especially that of women. The analysis of YouTube and Facebook (fanpages) English-medium posts demonstrates that in the context of controversial issues women often employ communicative strategies which not only put them on a par with male interlocutors, but also often exceed their use of impolite, vulgar, and abusive language.
Keywords: genderlects, CMC, SNS, identity, (im)politeness, swearwords, anonymity
International Journal of Cross-Cultural Studies and Environmental Communication 