THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE USE AMONG YOUNG ADULTS: LINGUISTIC TRANSFORMATIONS, CHALLENGES, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR FORMAL WRITING

Abstract

Social media have revolutionized youth communication and have touched grammar, lexicon, syntax, and language mastery in general. Online platforms, including Twitter (X), Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp, have incorporated informal language forms, including abbreviations, web language, emojis, and relaxed grammar, and have challenged their contribution towards academic and professional language competency. In this work, social media contribution towards English language use in youth is analyzed, with the objective of gauging whether it enhances language creativity or destroys academic and professional language competency. Using a qualitative research approach, social media content analysis is performed in the study to investigate common language trends, code-switching, and structural adaptations in computer-mediated language use. In conclusion, social media is observed to enable rich and expressive language use, but at a price: language conventions in conventional language use, and, consequently, grammar errors and informal language use in academic and workplace settings. Young adults' ambivalence towards social media's role is captured in the study, with one section noting its detrimental role in spelling and grammar but a section noting its role as a site for language creation and language use. The study concludes that social media both enables and constrains language development, offering both opportunities and challenges for mastering English language use. Recommendations include injecting language instruction with computer competency, raising awareness about standards for correct writing, and balancing language accommodation.