Face-work on Chinese social media

Abstract Emojis play a crucial role in facilitating face-work in online communication. While studies have examined the illocutionary effects of emojis on their co-text in online face management, it remains largely unexplored how face management is achieved through the combined use of politeness strategies realized by emojis and their co-text. Based on a corpus of comments from the Chinese social media platform Bilibili, this study explores how the Doge emoji and its co-text interact to perform face-work regarding illocutionary effects and politeness strategies. Findings reveal that this emoji frequently functions as an illocutionary force indicating device, adjusting verbal speech acts in a positive direction. Meanwhile, it serves as a politeness device, complementing verbal politeness strategies to flatter or maintain the interlocutors’ face. The interaction between the Doge emoji and its co-text is shaped by factors such as social distance, real-life politeness norms, and the speaker’s prioritization of face concerns.