LANGUAGE, IDENTITY, AND YOUTH CULTURE: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC STUDY OF SOCIAL MEDIA DISCOURSE IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

This study examines how Pakistani youth use language on social media platforms to construct and express their identities. With the rapid growth of digital platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter), young people in Pakistan have found new spaces to communicate, interact, and present themselves to the world. This research uses a qualitative approach with discourse analysis to study approximately 50 public social media posts, captions, and comments created by Pakistani youth aged 18 to 30 years. The study is guided by Identity Construction Theory developed by Bucholtz and Hall (2005), which views identity as something people actively create through language rather than something fixed. The analysis looks at language features such as code-switching between English and Urdu, Roman Urdu writing, slang expressions, internet abbreviations, emojis, and memes. The findings reveal that Pakistani youth use these linguistic practices to balance global and local identities. They present themselves as modern and educated through English, while using Urdu and regional languages to show cultural belonging and emotional connection. The study also finds that different social media platforms influence language choices in different ways. This research contributes to understanding how digital communication shapes youth identity in multilingual societies like Pakistan and provides useful insights for educators, researchers, and policymakers.