“Not my MVP!” : Analysing impoliteness in Twitter comments towards award-winning basketballers in the NBA and WNBA leagues

Abstract: This essay investigates impoliteness in the context of Twitter-based comments on award announcing tweets for the Most Valuable Player-award (MVP) in the National Basketball League (NBA) and the Women´s National Basketball League (WNBA). A comparison was made between how impoliteness is realized in the male NBA and the female WNBA,allowing for a comparison of received impoliteness based on gender. The essay spans the period of five years of MVP-winners for each league for a total of five Twitter posts per league. The data were analysed using a discourse analytical framework and werecategorised using Jonathan Culpeper´s (2005) impoliteness strategies. The essay offers an insight into how often and what type of impoliteness athletes receive on social media. As the study concludes, the results were compared and contrasted with the findings of other impoliteness studies, as well as how the landscape of sports media contributes to the presence of impoliteness on social media.