NON-VERBAL MEANS OF SHOWING FRIENDLINESS IN CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION IN ONLINE AND OFFLINE FORMATS

Abstract

The article discusses the ways of demonstrating friendliness in communication between representatives of different cultures and generations. Attention is focused on how friendliness manifests itself in non-verbal means of communication. Non-verbal components of communication and the consequences of their inadequate use in intercultural communication have been studied in sufficient detail. At the same time, specific features of the functioning of non-verbal means of communication in the digital format have not been examined thoroughly yet, which predetermines the importance of research in this area. The article presents an overview of works devoted to the specifics of using non-verbal means in online communication. Special attention is paid to cultural and generational factors affecting the perception of an utterance in digital format. The results of a survey are presented, during which respondents (aged 17 to 20) were asked to assess the degree of friendliness of greetings combined with different punctuation marks and emojis. Despite the homogeneity of the group of respondents, the conducted research has revealed contradictory assessments. Nevertheless, the quantitative data obtained make it possible to single out the greeting with the smiley emoji as the friendliest one, and the greeting with a period as the least friendly one.