Based on Kecskés’s (2014) intercultural pragmatics model, this study focuses on L2 teacher and learner perceptions of how conventionalized impoliteness formulae and implicational impoliteness (Culpeper, 2011) are shaped, negotiated, and produced interculturally on a social networking site (SNS), Instagram. In addition, the research sought to understand participants’ perceptions of the potential teachability of (im)politeness using extracts from Instagram. Teachability here related to both the pedagogical potential of these materials and their appropriateness for a formal instructional setting. The findings of the study suggest that participants view impoliteness language as characteristic of online platforms and that the featured topic also played a strong role in whether an instance was viewed as impolite; however, a metapragmatic intervention included in the interviews suggests that participants can become more aware of the different ways in which (im)politeness can be produced or perceived by users of a lingua franca, when prompted to reflect on linguistic choices. As for the potential teachability of impoliteness in a formal educational setting, participants were divided. The reasons that they give for supporting or rejecting the idea of social media texts as a means of teaching impoliteness point to some of the possible challenges teacher educators and program developers might face in integrating intercultural politeness
