Actividades de imagen en las páginas Facebook de pediatras españoles: el caso de “Lucía, mi pediatra” = Facework in Facebook pages of Spanish pediatricians: the case of “Lucía, mi pediatra”

The Web 2.0 has changed the modalities in which encounters between doctors and patients and among patients are developed. In particular, physicians demonstrate a specific wish about their face linked to their role. They exploit the new communicative channels, such as social networks, to disseminate new content and promote their activities, in order to strengthen their relationship with citizens or to broaden their ideas within the professionals. Within the framework of sociocultural pragmatics, the current research studies posts published in Facebook by Spanish pediatricians and the corresponding comments received during the years 2018 and 2019. The aim is to highlight the face strategies that physicians and patients’ parents deploy and the effect that these strategies produce on the face of interlocutors. The results show that professionals use mainly self-facework and politeness where the categories of autonomy and affiliation are emphasized to create a climate of interpersonal trust. Several politeness activities are observed in the followers’ answers. Facebook is configured as a Cyber display cabinet in which doctors enhance their face by a self-promotion of their activities, as well as through manifestations of interest and agreement and of positive politeness shown by their friends in the social network.