6.4 Social Media and Digital Culture

English in the Digital Age

The internet was born in English. The first websites, the first emails, the first online forums were all in English. And while the internet has since become a multilingual space, English remains its dominant language: approximately 60 percent of the world's websites are in English, despite English speakers making up only around 16 percent of the global population.

Social media platforms, most of them American-owned, have amplified this dominance. Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Reddit all originated in English-speaking contexts, and their interfaces, algorithms, and community norms carry English-language assumptions. Even when users post in other languages, they frequently incorporate English words and conventions. For young people around the world, social media has created a shared digital culture that transcends national borders -- memes, trends, slang, and communication styles spread globally at incredible speed, with English as the primary vehicle. This chapter explores how English shapes digital culture and how digital culture, in turn, is transforming English itself.

English as the Internet's Lingua Franca

The dominance of English online can be measured in striking ways. Around 60 percent of all websites are in English; English is the most-used language on Twitter/X, YouTube, and Reddit; most programming languages use English syntax; the majority of academic content online is in English; and the English edition of Wikipedia has over 6.7 million articles, far more than any other language. Why does English dominate? Because of a historical first-mover advantage (the internet was developed in the USA), platform origin (most major platforms were created by English-speaking companies), network effects (more English content draws more English creators), and technical infrastructure (domain names and interfaces default to the Latin alphabet). There is a flip side -- a digital divide: not everyone has equal access to English-language digital spaces, non-English speakers may be excluded from global conversations, and the dominance of English online may accelerate language shift among younger generations.

Much of this culture spreads through memes -- units of cultural information that spread through imitation, adaptation, and sharing, typically as images, videos, or phrases. Memes spread in English because the major meme-generating platforms are English-dominant, English memes reach the largest audience, and meme formats often rely on English wordplay. The "Distracted Boyfriend" meme of 2017, for instance, became a globally shared template with English text labels. Crucially, memes change language: they introduce new vocabulary ("sus," "based," "simp," "no cap," "slay"), create shared references across cultures, and teach non-English speakers English meme vocabulary. Norwegian young people regularly consume and share English-language memes, incorporating terms like "cringe," "vibe," "lowkey," and "slay" into their Norwegian speech -- meme literacy has become a form of English-language cultural capital.

Global Youth Culture and the TikTok Ecosystem

Global youth culture refers to the shared values, aesthetics, language, and behaviours among young people worldwide, increasingly shaped by English-language digital platforms. It is platform-native (formed within TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Discord), English-inflected (borrowing heavily from English even in non-English countries), visually driven (memes, short videos, images), trend-based (trends spread globally in hours), and identity-performative (young people perform identity through content creation). The English borrowings in Norwegian youth language are extensive: "cringe" (embarrassing), "vibe" (atmosphere), "lowkey" (slightly), "slay" (do excellently), "sus" (suspicious), "flex" (show off), and even hybrid verbs like "ghoste" (to ghost someone). The communication style itself is distinctive -- irony and sarcasm are central, deliberate misspelling ("smol," "heckin") creates comedic effect, emojis and reactions carry meaning, and fluid code-switching moves between English and the native language within a single post.

TikTok offers a perfect case study. Despite being owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, it operates primarily in English at the global level. English spreads through TikTok via trending sounds (the most viral audio is usually in English), hashtag culture (#fyp, #pov, #storytime), creator vocabulary ("duet," "stitch," "POV" become global format names), and comment culture (international users comment in English regardless of the video's language). The algorithm promotes content by engagement rather than language, but English content typically has a larger potential audience, so creators who want to go viral globally are incentivized to create in English. Yet there is a counter-trend: TikTok also enables non-English content to reach global audiences through visual storytelling, language-learning content is hugely popular, and some creators deliberately mix languages -- modelling the multilingual reality of global youth culture. So digital culture both reinforces English dominance and, increasingly, showcases linguistic diversity.

Summary

English dominates online spaces due to historical first-mover advantage, American platform ownership, and network effects -- about 60 percent of websites are in English despite English speakers being only 16 percent of the global population. Memes are a primary vehicle for spreading English-language culture globally, with meme vocabulary entering non-English languages and meme literacy functioning as cultural capital. Social media has created a shared global youth culture heavily inflected with English, and Norwegian young people routinely use borrowings like "cringe," "vibe," and "slay." Platform effects -- like TikTok's algorithm -- tend to amplify English content, incentivizing creators worldwide to produce in English, though counter-trends let non-English content reach global audiences. Meanwhile, digital culture is transforming English itself through meme language, deliberate misspelling, and new vocabulary -- expanding the language rather than simply spreading it.