Form-Function Correlations in Gen Z’s Instagram Direct Messages

Abstract

This article investigates the form-function correlations in the Instagram direct messages of fifteen Gen Z’ers living in Latakia governorate, Syria. Roughly, Gen Z is the world demographic born between 1996 and the early 2000s. Due to globalization and the emergence of social media as a hub of intermingling ideologies, cultures, and languages; multilingual Gen Z’ers seem to be inclined to perform patterned and systematic code mixing and switching in a variety of contexts and domains. Instagram direct messages were chosen for the intimate and ‘safe’ environment they provide participants, facilitating their patterned use of code mixing and switching. Adopting James Paul Gee’s model of Discourse, this quantitative-qualitative study outlines the form-function correlations prevalent in the participants’ social language, connecting their discourse to identity construction. This study also adopts the Myers-Scotton model to determine how meaning is negotiated among participants of this Gen Z Discourse. The current study found that participants of this Discourse systematically and strategically employ code switching / mixing in their speech for a variety of purposes, chief among which are topic shifts and lexical gaps, emotional intensity of domain, change in tone, as well as stance expression. Furthermore, code switching / mixing instances occur when participants are discussing gossip, social activities, and opinions of others. It should be noted that the forms under analysis in this article are restricted to code switching and code mixing.