In the age of globalization and advancing media development, especially through the Internet, people today can communicate with each other and exchange information without borders. Language and its function have evolved over time. However, the spread of social networks has had a strong influence on the fact that language can also be used to hurt other people. Particularly through platforms like Twitter and Facebook, some users may engage in verbal aggression or violence by insulting and threatening other people or service providers. In direct personal contact, the communication partners are usually more polite than in digital contact since it is difficult to maintain an appropriate social distance in virtual space.
Negative comments can harm both businesses and individuals. Criticism expressed by customers can lead to both a loss of image and a loss of sales for the company. For these reasons, this article intends to analyze the linguistic aggression in the German-language customer comments on the German Railways Facebook page. Facebook is one of the largest social networks in the world and allows its users to exchange information, communicate with each other, share opinions, photos, videos, news and much more.