THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN SHAPING LANGUAGE USE AND IDENTITY

This article discusses the multifaceted role of social media platforms in shaping contemporary language use and its impact on identity construction. Social media fosters the emergence of novel linguistic practices, including slang, abbreviations, and evolving grammatical structures, driven by the need for brevity, creativity, and community affiliation. These linguistic innovations, in turn, influence how individuals express themselves, perceive others, and negotiate their identities in digital spaces. The study explores how different platforms cultivate distinct linguistic norms and how users employ language to project specific identities, navigate social groups, and participate in online discourse.