DIGITAL IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION IN ENGLISH-LANGUAGE SOCIAL MEDIA DISCOURSE: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVE

Authors

  • Laurence Anthony Professor, Waseda University, Japan Faculty of Science and Engineering, School of Creative Science and Engineering Research fields: Corpus Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Educational Technology, Natural Language Processing, English Lang Author
  • Monika Bednarek Professor in Linguistics, The University of Sydney, Australia Corpus Linguistics, Media Linguistics, Discourse Analysis, Pragmatics, Sociolinguistics, Language and Emotion Author

Abstract

The rapid development of social media has transformed not only patterns of communication but also the linguistic mechanisms through which individuals construct and negotiate their identities. This article examines digital identity construction in English-language social media discourse from a sociolinguistic perspective. Particular attention is paid to lexical choice, code-switching, hashtags, emojis, abbreviations, evaluative expressions, and stylistic variation as resources for self-presentation. The study employs a qualitative and interpretative approach based on established theories of sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, and computer-mediated communication. The analysis demonstrates that identity in digital discourse is not a fixed linguistic category but a flexible communicative construct shaped by audience expectations, platform conventions, social relationships, and cultural context. The article argues that social media environments have created new forms of linguistic creativity in which traditional distinctions between written and spoken discourse are increasingly blurred.

Keywords: digital discourse, sociolinguistics, identity, social media, English language, computer-mediated communication, linguistic creativity

Downloads

Published

2026-09-28

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 6 (2026): SCIENCE AND PEDAGOGY IN THE MODERN WORLD: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

Section

Articles