What is it about?
The internet has changed the way we use language. It allows for the creative use of punctation marks, repetitions of letters, and multimodal elements for the expression of emotions and gestures, among others. The present study investigates how the language use on the platforms Twitter and Instagram differs. Ultimately, it is the aim to detect features of an individual’s writing style that also defies the platforms’ styles and that thus remain stable across the investigated platforms. The dataset of three individuals holding accounts on both platforms comprises a total of 1,800 posts. The analysis has yielded many promising results for future research and shows that while some features are indeed influenced by the respective platforms, others might remain more stable and could be indicative of an individual’s writing style.
Why is it important?
From a forensic linguistic authorship perspective, this work is an important step into the direction of the description of digital writing styles and the detection of features susceptible to influence by the platforms used. Knowing which linguistic features are likely influenced by social media platforms can be valuable, as these features can then be excluded (or less focused on) during an authorship analysis.