JOURNAL INFORMATIC.
EDUCATION AND MANAGEMENT (JIEM)
Vol 8 No 1 .
: September 2025 - February 2026, pp.
ISSN: 2716-0696.
DOI: 10.
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Politeness Comments on the Fizzo Reading App Irmayani 1*.
Syarifah Lubna 1 Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional Article Info Article history:
Received 28 September 2025 Revised 29 September 2025 Accepted 30 September 2025 Keywords:
Politeness.
Digital Commentary.
Fizzo.
Leech Maxim.
Pragmatic ABSTRACT This study aims to describe the form of language politeness in the comments of Fizzo digital reading application users-based on Leech's maximal theory of politeness.
Using a descriptive qualitative approach with pragmatic theory, data was obtained from comments on popular novels by exclusive authors .
tar The results of the analysis showed that most of the comments reflected adherence to the principles of politeness, such as the maxim of wisdom, generosity, appreciation, simplicity, compatibility, and sympathy.
However, it was also found that there were violations of the maxim which were generally triggered by dissatisfaction with the storyline.
These findings confirm the importance of applying politeness in digital communication, as well as its potential as a teaching material to form ethical language competence in the technological era.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA license.
Corresponding Author:
Irmayani | Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional Email: irmayanipnk@gmail.
Introduction The phenomenon of reading apps, such as Fizzo, has seen a significant increase, reflecting a shift towards the integration of technology in reading practices to improve reader comprehension and engagement.
Various scientific studies support the rapidly growing effectiveness of this technology (Azhar et al.
, 2025.
Chang et al.
, 2018.
Chen et al.
, 2019.
Nurzaman et al.
, 2.
These applications have been proven to be able to significantly improve understanding and enrich the reading experience while introducing innovative approaches in learning literacy.
In addition to understanding, reading applications for the educational realm are also effective in increasing student engagement and motivation.
Studies show that the integration of collaborative reading strategies (CSR) into digital platforms results in higher participation and motivation, especially among passive learners (Suparto et al.
, 2.
In addition, interactive games designed to improve reading literacy get positive feedback due to their ability to retain students' attention and engagement (Mahalingam et al.
, 2.
This is reinforced by the increasingly common use of AR.
VR, and 3D environment technologies to Journal homepage: http://w.
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offer immersive experiences that are proven to improve learning outcomes, including in language learning and digital literacy (Prabakaran et al.
, 2025.
Sancho et al.
, 2.
Fizzo as one of the digital reading applications is relatively popular because it has more than eight thousand readings in various genres, such as romance novels, adventures, horror, fantasy, mystery, and cartoons.
Since its launch on April 26, 2021.
Fizzo, which was originally named Fictum, has been downloaded by more than five million users in just one year and now more than ten million have used it.
This application includes a platform that highly rewards writers through contracts and various bonuses that will be obtained after meeting certain conditions (Ridwansyah & Febrianti, 2.
Just like authors, readers can also gain benefits in addition to a pleasant reading experience.
Users of this application will be able to earn a "wage" for reading in the form of money if they successfully complete their reading.
The application also provides a forum for users, both authors and readers, to communicate with each other by sharing opinions, testimonials, comments, knowledge, and book recommendations through its community and the comment feature in each existing reading (Wulandari, 2.
Not only does it serve as a forum for interaction, the comment feature on a reading app can significantly increase reader engagement and motivation.
Studies on apps like Epic, for example, have succeeded in increasing reading motivation and vocabulary mastery among language learners through its interactive features (Khalaf & Wali, 2.
The comment feature that is freely accessible to every user has of course also changed to social media that can be accessed with a variety of speeches.
Social media is indeed one of the communication media used by the public (Ayupradani et al.
, 2.
Social media is a manifestation of people's needs to get information and communication virtually .
This means that speaking activities on social media, speakers and counter-speakers do not meet face-to-face.
Speech acts can be seen in uploads, captions, or comments on social media (Putri & Ermanto, 2.
Speech acts, as in everyday life, are certainly very varied.
People don't always use their language well (Mahmudi et al.
, 2.
Some people use polite, polite, gentle, clear, orderly, and straightforward language so that the information spoken can be conveyed properly.
Meanwhile, some other people use rude, disrespectful, and perfunctory language so that information is not conveyed properly (Setiawan & Rois, 2.
and can offend the opponent (Mahmudi et al.
, 2.
At this time, the values of politeness are needed in building relationships between humans in order to respect each other because as a means of communication, language has a function in connecting between human minds (Faiz et al.
Several previous studies have shown that politeness in the digital realm is a complex phenomenon, affecting interactions from daily to professional communication.
Although early research proposes that individuals are polite to computers because they perceive them as social agents, more recent findings from Norway refute this view, suggesting that humans are often disrespectful to dialogue systems (Bryseth, 2.
These dynamics highlight the Journal homepage: http://w.
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need for further attention to the adaptation and evolution of norms of civility in the digital Politeness in communication is an element that should be prioritized in social relationships (Jauhari et al.
, 2017.
Lestari et al.
, 2019.
Wulansafitri & Syaifudin, 2.
Because speech using polite and polite language is a way for speakers to establish good relationships with speech partners (Nisa, 2.
Politeness is a rule of speech that monitors the course of a speech whether it complies with or violates the rules of politeness.
The more polite the language used reflects the politeness or politeness of thoughts and actions because language is a mirror of oneself (Kurniadi et al.
, 2.
Furthermore, (Hadiwijaya & Yahmun.
, 2.
said that politeness in language is an ethics or norm in socializing by using good words and conveying politely in society.
Politeness is a relationship between oneself and others and is the same as cultural values that are close to society because of the ethical values that are believed to be (Iriyansah & Hilaliyah, 2018.
Politeness is a rule of behavior that is set and mutually agreed upon by a certain society so that politeness is also a prerequisite agreed upon by social behavior.
Language politeness is reflected in the manner of communicating through verbal signs or language manners.
When we communicate, we submit to cultural norms, not just convey the ideas we think (Mislikhah, 2.
Politeness can be displayed in the principle of politeness.
The principle of politeness is used so that the language used in speech by the speaker or speech partner is polite and not harmful.
Speech is considered polite when subtle words are used.
Speech also does not have an element of ridicule, does not rule, and respects and appreciates others.
If these maxims of politeness are met, then the speech will be considered polite, but on the other hand, speech will be considered impolite or impolite, when these things are violated.
There are many principles that must be met to be able to be polite in language.
Suntoro quotes the opinion of Leech .
who stated that there are six maxims of politeness in language, namely: the maxims of wisdom, generosity, appreciation, moderation, compatibility, and sympathy (Suntoro, 2.
On the other hand, the politeness of the Indonesian people has begun to fade.
This can be seen from how the Indonesian people behave in dealing with the phenomenon that is Often the people in acting are not thought of first.
Especially in responding to hoax news.
Our society is so easily provoked by emotions that impolite speech is often said (Iriyansah & Hilaliyah, 2.
According to a report titled DCI (Digital Civility Inde.
released by Microsoft in 2020.
Indonesia's level of civility is ranked 29th out of 32 countries.
That means Indonesia is fourth from the bottom and is the lowest in the Southeast Asian Region.
The report is based on the results of a survey followed by respondents from 32 countries totaling 16,000 respondents.
This research was conducted in April and May 2020 with the aim of publishing a survey to promote safer, healthier and more respectful online interactions (Finaka, 2021.
Ikhsan, 2021.
Rosa, 2.
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Several previous studies of communication on social media reveal unique patterns.
Instagram, users tend to use negative politeness strategies to maintain harmony, such as avoiding outright disapproval (Norouzi et al.
, 2.
Instead, on anonymous platforms like Reddit, new norms of interaction are emerging that are different from face-to-face communication (Balyzs & Hulyyk-Tomesz, 2.
In live streaming, decency violations often occur as performative strategies driven by algorithms to increase interaction (Mayrita et al.
, 2.
In the end, this article wants to reveal the patterns of language awkwardness that appear on the comment feature of the Fizzo online reading application.
Methode Readers' comments on the Fizzo application, such as romance, adventure, and mystery novels are data in this article.
The use of comment data from reading applications in teaching language politeness significantly enriches student learning.
By offering authentic examples and interactive learning opportunities, educators can help students become more skilled and culturally sensitive communicators without leaving careful implementation and proper guidance behind.
This paper uses a descriptive qualitative approach based on pragmatic Pragmatics is essential to understand implicit meaning through contextual indicators such as tone, social norms, and nonverbal symbols such as emojis (BErbuleu, 2023.
Dey.
Phelan, 2.
The ability to interpret implicit meanings accurately is crucial for maintaining effectiveness and ethics in digital communication.
For this reason, this approach was chosen because it aims to describe and analyze the politeness strategies used by Fizzo application users in the comments of online reading application users in a contextual and indepth manner.
The data is collected by capturing the screen of the application user's comments and then analyzed based on the theory of politeness, which includes the maxim of wisdom, generosity, appreciation, simplicity, compatibility, and sympathy.
Each comment is coded and classified according to the strategy used, and then interpreted to describe the pattern of use of the politeness strategy in the context of digital interaction.
Result and Discussion Fizzo's Comment Column Responding to this level of politeness, the author of the article wants to highlight readers' comments on the Fizzo reading application.
Reader comments are columns that allow the author/author and readers of the novel to interact with each other in each chapter in the In this article, not every comment column of the novel reader is highlighted.
The reader's comment column that will get attention and become a source of data is only comments left on popular novels by star writers or star writers.
Star writer is the name given to Fizzo's selected author or author who signs an exclusive contract with the app.
In 2022, there were three people selected as star writers and one more in the first semester of this year .
With a normative method, the readers' comments .
n July 2.
were then selected and matched based on the criteria of the principle of politeness predicted by Leech.
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Politeness of Fizzo's Comments Maxim of Wisdom Wisdom in speaking must be considered so that the communication process runs smoothly and politely.
The maxim of wisdom means that the speaker must reduce his own profits and maximize the profits for others when speaking (Putri & Ermanto, 2.
Comments that contain the wisdom maxim can be seen in the following example.
Figure 1.
The Maxim of Wisdom The comments read in figure 1 contain the wisdom of the story writer who fulfills the request of readers who want to know about the heart of one of the characters in the story by making a story based on the point of view or pov .
oint of vie.
of one of the characters in question.
In addition, the commentary writer also increases the profits of others/readers by praying for good things and apologizing if there is a storyline that is not according to the reader's wishes.
The examples of comments that are deviations from the maxim of wisdom are as follows.
Figure 2.
Violation of the Maxim of Wisdom The comment on figure 2 above shows a violation of the maxim of wisdom.
The commenter denounced the character in the story who had wealth but was believed to be stingy.
This is certainly considered unwise because it does not provide comfort to the other party.
Maxim of Generosity The maxim of generosity means that the participants of the speech are expected to respect Respect for others will occur when people can reduce profits for themselves and maximize profits for others (Putri & Ermanto, 2.
Comments that contain the maxim of generosity can be seen in the following example.
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Figure 3.
Maxims of Generosity Figure 3 above shows one of Fizzo's author or author's comments informing that he uploaded or uploaded more than one chapter on the day.
This comment contains the maxim of generosity because what the author says or does increases his own losses and benefits others or readers by trying to do more than what is his obligation .
p one chapte.
This is certainly a generous thing because of course it is very liked by the readers of the novel by immediately reacting likely.
Examples of reader comments that are deviations from the maxim of generosity are as Figure 4.
Violation of the Maxim of Generosity The reader's comments seen in figure 4 certainly violate the maxim of generosity.
This is due to the author who, in the opinion of the reader or commentator, only thinks about his own money or profit without thinking about the feelings of others, aka the reader, even though the reader is really waiting for the continuation of the story that directly provides solutions or solutions to the conflict of problems, not just a very long and absurd drama.
Maxim of Appreciation The maxim of appreciation or praise means that the speaker is expected to try to give praise or appreciation to others.
With this maxim, the speaker does not satirize or insult others so that speech becomes polite (Putri & Ermanto, 2.
The maximal speech of appreciation or praise can be seen in the following example comment.
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Figure 5.
Maxim of Appreciation Figure 6.
Maxim of Appreciation The comment in figure 5 above complies with the maxim of appreciation because the reader complies with the maxim of praise by maximizing praise to the party in question .
he author of the stor.
because the reader in his comment conveys appreciation or praise to the author or author.
The award is given because the story writer has succeeded in working with a storyline full of surprises .
lot twis.
and received by readers.
The storyline is praised as very amazing and does not make you boring and addictive.
Other praise or awards are given to different authors/authors or authors as shown in figure 6 because the author has uploaded .
many chapters.
The commenter then felt very happy and appreciated this.
Examples of comments that violate the award maxim are as follows.
Figure 7.
Violation of the Maximum Appreciation Journal homepage: http://w.
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Figure 8.
Violation of the Maximum Appreciation The comment in figure 7 above is a deviation from the maximum of appreciation because the reader satirizes and criticizes one of the authors in the hope that fans or readers of the novel will not run away because the storyline in the chapter of the novel is considered longwinded.
A very good rating according to the commenter is not accompanied by a quality story so that the reader feels disappointed with the storyline written by the author.
The next comment also contains the disappointment experienced by the reader because the content of the story chapter is too small so that he feels annoyed with one of the existing story characters.
Similarly, the screenshot of the last comment in figure 7, the story writer according to the commenter is considered to deliberately lengthen the episodes of Maya's story to reach hundreds of episodes and finally forgets the storyline that has been written at the beginning of the story.
Maxim of Moderation Simplicity or humility can be realized through reducing praise for oneself and increasing praise for one's speaking partner (Putri & Ermanto, 2.
The maximal speech of moderation can be seen in the following example.
Figure 9.
Maxim of Moderation The author's comment in figure 9 above adheres to the maxim of simplicity or humility because the author humbly states that the shortcomings are still not able to regularly update the story anymore.
He also politely said that he would continue to update as much as possible and thanked the readers who still read a lot of his work.
In addition, the author also wishes his readers a happy rest and a weekend.
Examples of violations of the maximum of moderation are found in the following examples.
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Figure 10.
Violation of the Maxim of Moderation Figure 10 is an example of a violation of the maxim of simplicity because of the impolite content of his words.
Commentators criticized the story character named Dafa for being very difficult to contact when needed.
Dafa figures also said that even though they were told their love for their wives and mothers, they did not show their affection for their wives and He is less able to protect his wife and does not care about his mother's treatment.
At his house, he also wanted to install a hidden camera/cctv but it took so long that the commenter sarcastically quipped loudly by asking how long the hidden camera order would Maximum Compatibility The match maxim outlines each speaker and opponent to maximize the match between them and minimize the mismatch between them (Wijana & Rohmadi, 2.
An example of a comment that contains this maxim is as follows.
Figure 11.
Maximum Compatibility Figure 11 shows the story writer's answer when replying to a reader's comment about the situation of Rabung Village as a setting or setting for the story.
To minimize conflicts over differences of opinion and reach an agreement with the reader, the story writer directly comments that the question will be told in the next chapter so that the incompatibility of opinions between the author and the reader of the story can be reduced.
The examples of the deviation of the maximum compatibility are as follows.
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Figure 12.
Violation of the Maximum Fit Figure 12 shows the reader's comments that show his disagreement or disagreement with the author over what he wrote in the story.
In the story, it is stated that Dafa figures as children who love their mothers and rich businessmen tend to ignore their mother who has a stroke, are not quick and agile to take their mother for treatment and therapy.
The story is also considered unrealistic because as a rich man who has many projects he only has one maid to take care of his big house and his sick mother.
Maxim Cutpatian The maxim of sympathy requires the participants to maximize their sympathy and minimize the sense of anticertainty in the opponent when the opponent experiences success and happiness or sorrow (Wijana & Rohmadi, 2.
The examples of comments that are in accordance with the maxim of sympathy are as follows.
Figure 13.
The Maxim of Sympathy Journal homepage: http://w.
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Figure 14.
The Maxim of Sympathy The comment in the image above is speech that adheres to the maxim of sympathy in a way that the speaker or commentator maximizes his or her concern for the character in the story.
The commenter gave reader support to Jefri's character to be patient with Laila who was still traumatized and took a long time.
Commenters hope that Laila's character will be destroyed if Jefri's character does not give up and continues to struggle to give her affection and Sympathy is also shown by giving encouragement in Japanese (Ganbat.
to Jefri's Examples of comments that violate the maxim of sympathy are as follows.
Figure 15.
Violation of the Maxim of Sympathy The comments on picture 15 above show that the commenter does not feel much sympathy and sadness about what Laila is experiencing.
He considers Laila, the story's character, to only show an attitude of doubt, anxiety and lack of confidence .
This was even responded to by the story writer accompanied by a laughing tone.
The application of the knowledge used on online reading platforms in the world of education has become an essential competency because awareness of the importance of this can improve professional prospects in the future and can significantly improve the perception and user experience (Bowman et al.
, 2024.
Monteiro et al.
, 2023.
Tivyaeva & Abdulmianova.
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Conclusion In the example of the selected comments above, it can be seen that like everyday conversations, the reader's comments appear varied.
In general, the comments certainly meet the principle of politeness, but there are also some comments that violate the maxim of When a deviation from politeness occurs, what readers and storywriters do in Fizzo is to give approval, clarify .
f what is commented is not tru.
and sometimes even keep Of course, it is necessary to calculate data thoroughly and in detail on all existing comments to analyze the number of comments according to the existing principles of language politeness because what is reviewed in this paper is only limited to presenting examples according to the maxim of language politeness.
The purpose of this presentation is simply to show whether the politeness and politeness of internet users, especially in the interaction columns, is low or not.
From the observation in the comment column of Fizzo readers it cannot be said to be completely true.
Many comments from readers build and appreciate the content of the writing and the author or author of the story.
But of course, impolite comments sometimes appear.
The comment appeared when it was triggered by a storyline that was not as expected.
The reader assumes that the storyline that is too long-winded and indirect is deliberately made to lengthen the content of the story chapter and provoke the reader's disapproval in the comment column.
Polite comments will certainly minimize the potential for conflicts and confrontations that always occur in human society.
Readers' comments that violate the principle of politeness will be considered impolite because they can trigger confrontation in the comment column which turns out that for the author it does not have a negative impact because the number of comment columns in each chapter will give good results for them, unless Fizzo readers report it as a bad and inappropriate thing and the story contains elements of plagiarism.
References