<![CDATA[The development of digital communication has transformed the ways in which young people build relationships, express emotions, and manage interpersonal impressions through language. In interactions that take place without physical presence, politeness is determined not only by word choice but also by context, social proximity, the use of emojis and punctuation, and the recipient’s interpretation of messages. This phenomenon is important to examine because differences in the interpretation of digital messages may lead to misunderstandings and affect the quality of social relationships. This study aims to explore young people’s experiences and interpretations of language politeness practices in digital interactions and to identify the strategies they employ to maintain interpersonal relationships. The study employs a qualitative approach with a phenomenological design. The participants consist of 15–20 young people, particularly university students in Indonesia, who have active experience communicating through digital media. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews, observations of digital interactions voluntarily provided by participants, and supporting documentation, and were subsequently analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings reveal three main themes: strategies for maintaining others’ feelings through language choice, the use of emojis and punctuation as markers of emotional nuances, and the negotiation of politeness based on social proximity and interactional context. These findings demonstrate that digital politeness is contextual, relational, and dynamic. Theoretically, the study strengthens the understanding of relational work in digital spaces, while practically, it provides implications for the development of digital literacy, pragmatic awareness, and more ethical communication education.]]>
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