LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION STYLE IN SOCIAL NETWORKS VKONTAKTE AND WECHAT

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the peculiarities and evolution of language in the context of internet space. Initially, the concept of “language” as a communication system structured using signs, rules, and grammatical structures is thoroughly discussed. The author explores the phenomenon of “Internet language”, highlighting its specifics triggered by the peculiarities of internet communication, such as the widespread use of slang, emojis, emoticons, and abbreviations. It is underscored that internet language reflects the dynamism and variability of modern communicative practices, as well as sociocultural tendencies. The next important point is the characteristics of the language of specific internet communities. Here, the author introduces the concept of “sociolect”, a unique language formed within a certain online group. The influence of the internet and the specificity of language in the digitalization era is examined in detail on the example of social networks WeChat and VKontakte. Having highlighted the main functions and capabilities of these platforms, the author raises the question of the impact of social networks on the formation of social interaction, self-expression, and self-realization, and also notes potential usage risks such as dependence and data leakage risk. In the concluding section of the article, attention is focused on the fact that both applications provide communication opportunities on a range of languages, making them genuinely international and creating conditions for multilingual user interaction. Thus, the study represents a comprehensive analysis of the development and transformation of language in the digitalization conditions, using the example of the functioning of two popular social platforms. The work provides a linguistic analysis of the language and style of communication in the Russian social network VK (Vkontakte) and the Chinese social network WeChat (WeChat) with reference to slang and special vocabulary. The concepts of “language” and “Internet language” are revealed. Based on a thorough analysis of social media data materials, the linguistic characteristics of applications and their target audience are determined using methods of structuralfunctional comparison and description. The paper highlights several specific features of Russian and Chinese social networks, namely, the spread of multilingualism, the conversational format of communication, the expressiveness and simplification of speech on the Internet.