Social media as a linguistic environment for the evolution of contemporary English slang
Year: 2026
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: This paper examines social media as an active linguistic environment in the evolution of contemporary English slang. Drawing on the theoretical and analytical findings of a dissertation on English slang in social media communication, the study focuses on three interconnected dimensions: structural and lexical innovation, pragmatic revaluation, and platform-sensitive circulation. The analysis shows that contemporary online slang is formed through clipping, blending, creative respelling, affixation, semantic shift, category fluidity, and recurrent multiword constructions. At the same time, the digital environment affects not only the form of slang but also its communicative value. Slang expressions perform evaluation, alignment, identity display, mitigation, dismissal, ridicule, and intertextual framing. Comparison of major platforms indicates that slang does not constitute a single homogeneous category of “Internet language”: platform norms, audience design, multimodality, and interactional tempo influence how expressions emerge, circulate, and are reinterpreted. The study therefore argues that social media should be considered an active environment of slang production, dissemination, recontextualization, and partial normalization rather than a neutral channel of transmission.
Author: Dilnoza Norqulova
Language: English
Subfield: Human-Computer Interaction
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W7214783682