From Tweets to Text: How Social Media Shapes Gen Zs Language

Abstract

The English language evolves continuously, shaped by each generation. Currently, Generation Z, known as digital natives, significantly impacts this evolution through their unique online lexicon. This study investigates the impact of technological advancements, particularly social media, on the lexical innovation and academic writing of Generation Z students at NISU Ajuy. As digital platforms increasingly influence communication, slang and lexical innovation have become widespread among young users. This study utilized a survey research design to identify the top ten slang terms, top three social media platforms shaping language use, and their effect on academic writing among these students. The sample comprised 50 students. The most popular slang terms identified were BASIC, CLOUT, BTW, SLAY, ASAP, BET, LOWKEY, OTW, LIT, and SQUAD. Facebook, Twitter (X), and Instagram were the leading social media platforms. The study also examined the impact of these digital language trends on academic writing. It found that increased use of slang, particularly among BSHM, BSE, and BSC students, led to more grammatical errors and weaker sentence construction. However, BSEd, and BEEd students were less affected. It also showed the statistical analysis of the impact of slang and social media platform usage on the academic writing of NISU Ajuy Gen Z students, focusing on demographic factors such as sex, course, and age which revealed that there was no significant differences in academic writing performance across these groups, with all significance values exceeding the threshold of 0.05. These findings highlight the importance of being a wise technology user and recognizing the distinction between formal and informal language. While social media platforms are valuable for communication and self-expression, students must learn to differentiate between casual online slang and the formal language required in academic contexts. KEYWORDS: Lexical Innovation, Slangs, Social Media, Generation Z, Language Utilization