This study examined linguistic politeness behaviors and their relationship to social distance among members of a diasporic Bengali community on the social network site Orkut^®. Using data from computer-mediated communication (CMC), specifically text messages posted on Orkut^® 'scrapbooks,’ it developed a method to test the claims of the bulge theory of politeness (Wolfson, 1988, 1989), which holds that dyads at the extremes of the social distance scale use fewer politeness acts than do dyads in the middle distance. The focus of the analysis was on compliments, expressions of gratitude , and greetings.

The results indicate that the bulge is not a typical characteristic of the Bengali Orkut^® participants’ linguistic politeness behavior. The distribution of the participants’ politeness behaviors marginally resembles the bulge pattern only in a few cases. To better understand the participants’ linguistic politeness practices (or the lack thereof) in relation to social distance, the study examined the degree of intensity of their politeness practices in relation to the participants' level of social proximity with their contacts.

The results of this second analysis show that unmarked greetings and expressions of gratitude were most frequently used by the participants when interacting with their acquaintances overall, although the frequency gradually decreases as the level of intimacy with their contacts increases. Conversely, intensified greetings and expressions of gratitude were expressed more frequently when the participants interacted with their intimate friends, and the frequency of such politeness practices steadily decreases with the decrease in level of intimacy. Unmarked compliments exhibit a reverse pattern, however; that is, they decrease as social distance increases. Finally, a bulge shape emerged when the frequency of use of intensified compliments was mapped onto social distance. This suggests that each politeness practice interacts with the social distance scale differently, and thus that each of them needs to be examined in its own right. These results indicate that Wolfson’s (1988, 1989) bulge theory does not always hold true; that is, that the bulge theory is not culturally neutral and should not be accepted as a universal theory of politeness behavior. In explaining the patterns of association found in the study, the contribution of the participants’ cultural background and the computer-mediated nature of the data are also considered.