AGE & SEX : LANGUAGE USE BY ONLINE STREAMERS
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Language reflects not only communication but also identity and social variation. In digital platforms such as YouTube, streamers present themselves to audiences while adapting their language according to social factors. This study examines how age and sex shape language use in online streamers, focusing on vocabulary and word choice during live streaming. The research applies Labov’s Variationist Sociolinguistics, which views language variation as systematic and influenced by social categories, including age and sex. A qualitative descriptive method is used, with data drawn from clips of four streamers: two international (one male; Gen Z, one female; Millennial) and two local (one male; Millennial, one female; Gen Z) in their respective live session. Their clips of live sessions are observed and transcribed to identify linguistic variation related to age and sex. The study is expected to show the vocabularies or word choice differences between the male streamers with the female streamers and millennials with Gen-Z streamers.
Article Details
Section
How to Cite
References
Windah Basudara. (2023, December 15). MAIN AMONG US LAGI NIH GENGS! ADA IMPOSTOR DIANTARA KITA! [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/D2OfeHeojHM
IShowSpeed. (2024, February 10). IShowSpeed playing AMONG US with fans (funny moments) [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/UbvqaFAJw7k
Valkyrae. (2022, September 4). Among Us but I’m the impostor again... [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/ZHrhZiMLNJE
Jessica Jane. (2023, July 21). MAIN SUPER SUS BARU PERTAMA KALI LANGSUNG JADI IMPOSTOR!! [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/WzIygALa6a0
Labov, W. (1963). The social motivation of a sound change. Word, 19(3), 273–309.
Labov, W. (1990). The intersection of sex and social class in the course of linguistic change. Language Variation and Change, 2(2), 205–254.
Labov, W. (2001). Principles of linguistic change: Social factors. Blackwell Publishers.
Trudgill, P. (1984). Sociolinguistics: An introduction to language and society. Penguin Books.
P
Coulmas, F. (2005). Sociolinguistics: The study of speakers' choices. Cambridge University Press.
Tagliamonte, S. A. (2012). Variationist sociolinguistics: Change, observation, interpretation. Wiley-Blackwell.
Eckert, P. (1997). Age as a sociolinguistic variable. In F. Coulmas (Ed.), The handbook of sociolinguistics (pp. 151–167). Blackwell.
Nakandala, S., Ciampaglia, G. L., Lu, X., & De Choudhury, M. (2017). Gendered conversation in social media: Analyzing engagement and emotion in online gaming communities. Proceedings of the 11th International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM-17).
Calude, A. S. (Ed.). (2025). Linguistics of social media: An introduction to the special issue. Languages (MDPI). [https://www.mdpi.com/journal/languages](https://www.mdpi.com/journal/languages)
Cotrău, D., & Papuc, O. (Eds.). (2021). An introduction to Internet linguistics: The cultural-sociolinguistic take with case studies. Bucharest: Romanian Academy Press.
Dhanesh, G. S. (2025). Gender representations and user engagement in social media communication. Business Communication Review. [https://www.sciencedirect.com](https://www.sciencedirect.com)
Džanko, L. (2025). Linguistic features influencing information diffusion in online social media.Social Network Analysis and Mining, 15(3). [https://www.sciencedirect.com](https://www.sciencedirect.com)
Hikmah, E. F. (2024). Bahasa sebagai identitas gender: Studi kasus penggunaan bahasa di media sosial X.SeBaSa, 8(1). [https://e-journal.hamzanwadi.ac.id/index.php/sbs/article/view/29285](https://e-journal.hamzanwadi.ac.id/index.php/sbs/article/view/29285)
Isnarini, E., Khaeruman, & Muti’ah, E. (2024). Social media sociolinguistics: Patterns, trends, and the dynamics of digital language.LINGUA: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, dan Pengajarannya, 21(2), 189–199. [https://lingua.soloclcs.org/index.php/lingua/article/view/1050](https://lingua.soloclcs.org/index.php/lingua/article/view/1050)
Moroz, M. (2024). Social media as a source of sociolinguistic data: Gender and identity perspectives. Proceedings of the International Conference on Language and Society, 7(1), 44–53.
Panjaitan, L. L., & Patria, A. N. (2024). Social media and language evolution: The impact of digital communication on language change. International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation, 7(12), 53–57. [https://al-kindipublisher.com/index.php/ijllt/article/view/8296](https://al-kindipublisher.com/index.php/ijllt/article/view/8296)