Variational pragmatics in Chinese social media requests: The influence of age and social status

Among the macro-social factors investigated in variational pragmatics (VP), region has received the most attention. To date, age-based differences have not been examined much in VP studies. Social status is frequently observed as a crucial factor affecting the pragmatic production of requests, but few studies have explored the interaction between social status and macro-social factors such as age. Therefore, this study investigates the effect of age and social status on social media requests between two groups of Chinese people across different ages (a younger group and an older group). Thirty-eight Chinese participants (18 younger adults and 20 older adults) were recruited in this study, contributing a total of 236 requests made via WeChat. The results indicated that both groups preferred direct strategies when making requests on WeChat. Social status affected the preferences for external and internal modification of the requests in each group. The similarities and differences in the two groups’ social media requests with respect to age, as well as due to societal and ideological changes as a consequence of socio-economic development in China, are discussed.