The particular dialect or language that a person chooses to use on any occasion is called a code 1748 Copyright © 2024 The Author IDEAS is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 License Issued by English study program of IAIN Palopo IDEAS Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) Volume 13, Number 1, June 2025 pp. 1748 - 1765 The Trend of Linguistic Studies on Social Media in Indonesian Linguistic Journals Ahmad Fadli Harahap1, Rizky Vita Losi2, Hanna Maria Panggabean3, Ronika Apriyanti Manik4, Roobby Hamdanur5, Tahan HJ Sihombing6, Sahat Maringan Samosir7 1,6Department of Business Administration, Politeknik Negeri Medan, North Sumatra, 2,3,4,5Department of Business Management, Politeknik Negeri Medan, North Sumatra, 7Department of Foreign Languages and Applied Linguistics, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan, Corresponding E-Mail: ahmadfadli@polmed.ac.id Received: 2025-06-01 Accepted: 2025-06-28 DOI: 10.24256/ideas. v13i1.6871 Abstract The focus of linguistic research has been shifted in the past five years from face to face to communication to social media. This research employed content analysis on 30 articles that had been published in linguistics journals across Indonesia since 2020 to 2024, with linguistic aspect in social media as the main focus of the research. This current research has revealed that in the past five years, the number of publications used social media as their data source had improved especially in 2024 with 10 studies. Among those publications, the most dominant research designed was qualitative descriptive and was found in 28 studies. In addition, content analysis is the most dominant method to analyze the data, also found in 28 studies. Instagram is the most frequently platform, with 11 studies, used as data resources in linguistic research. Researchers are particularly interested to investigate pragmatic aspects towards social media with 11 studies. The practical implication of this research is that it provides linguists, educators and digital media practitioners with a comprehensive reference for understanding current trends, methodological preferences and emerging challenges in linguistic studies of social media in Indonesia, thus guiding future research and practice in the digital linguistic landscape. In addition, future research is encouraged to use more diverse research designs, expand the scope of linguistic domains, and explore new platforms such as threads to better capture evolving digital language trends. Researchers are also advised to continuously adapt their methods and analyses to the dynamic nature of social media in Indonesia. Keywords: Social media, linguistic Research, Linguistic Field http://u.lipi.go.id/1457703302 mailto:ahmadfadli@polmed.ac.id1 IDEAS, Vol. 13, No. 1, June 2025 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 1749 Introduction The rapid growth of social media platforms has fundamentally transformed communication practices in Indonesia, shifting interactions from traditional face- to-face communication to social media. Indonesia has emerged as one of the most active social media markets globally with platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp, and TikTok becoming integral to daily communication. As of 2025, the country has an estimated 191.4 million active social media users, representing 68.9% of the population. Additionally, Indonesian users spend an average of 188 minutes (3 hours and 8 minutes) per day on social media, ranking ninth globally in usage Duration (Data Reportal, 2024). This extensive usage highlights the pervasive influence of social media on the social behaviors, cultural trends, and communication preferences of Indonesians today. Popular platforms such as WhatsApp, TikTok and Facebook are not only places where social interaction takes place, but also fertile ground for linguistic practice that reflect the changing patterns of language use in online environment. The popularization of social media in Indonesia has led to a unique online linguistic culture that is multimodal, includes code-switching, new linguistic forms such as slang, abbreviations and acronyms, and dynamic discourse (Savitri & Dewi, 2023; Khasanah et al., 2021). The Platforms shaped these linguistic behaviors. For example, the character limit of Twitter encourages users to express their ideas in a few words. That condition often leads to shorter and more creative language use when interacting in Twitter. In contrast, the visual nature of Instagram encourages the integration of text and image captions, influencing pragmatic strategies and the construction of online identities (Hanifa, 2021; Gligoric , 2022). From a linguistic standpoint, the widespread use of social media in Indonesia necessitates new frameworks for analyzing communication that go beyond traditional models of conversation analysis or written discourse. It also raises questions about language change, identity performance, and the negotiation of politeness, formality, and social roles in online interactions. Indonesian users increasingly rely on social media not only for entertainment but also for education, activism, commerce, and cultural expression (Damanik & Mulyadi, 2020; Hennida & Kinasih, 2021; Simangunsong & Handoko, 2020). For this reason, researchers tend to explore how digital language practices reflect and influence broader linguistic trends in those specific purposes. Thus, integrating national statistics on social media usage with linguistic analysis is not only timely but essential for understanding the intersection of language, technology, and society in Indonesia. The increasing role of social media in daily communication has effectively transformed linguistic study (Sultan, 2023). Researchers are now focusing on the ways in which social media influences language use, identity formation and discourse structures. In contrast to face-to- face communication, social media is multimodal and consists of elements such as text, images, emojis, GIFs and hashtags, all of which influence meaning formation Ahmad Fadli Harahap, Rizky Vita Losi, Hanna Maria Panggabean, Ronika Apriyanti Manik, Roobby Hamdanur, Tahan HJ Sihombing, Sahat Maringan Samosir The Trend of Linguistic Studies on Social Media in Indonesian Linguistic Journals 1750 and linguistic choice (Koltsova & Kartashkova, 2022). In addition, new phenomena such as internet slang, meme culture and algorithmically induced language varieties have created new sociolinguistic environments that are increasingly being studied by scholars (Malory & Tusting, 2022). This shift from offline to online interaction has also had a significant impact on linguistic researches in Indonesia. Indonesian scholars have studied numerous aspects of this shift, such as linguistic politeness on YouTube (Shalekhah et al., 2020), persuasive language in Instagram ads (Harahap et al., 2025; Hidarto, 2021), and the portrayal of social actors in online news (Qowim S Degaf, 2024). There are other researches that have investigated the function of code-switching in pandemic communication and multimodal approaches in social media. However, although language study on social media is growing, there is a crucial gap that a systematic review summarising the main patterns and trends in the researches published in Indonesian journals has not yet been conducted. A more comprehensive overview of linguistic trends in Indonesian social media is needed to make more accurate predictions about language evolution in the online community and to fill the current gap in scientific study. This study follows Krippendorff’s (2018) framework of content analysis, which defines content analysis as a systematic, replicable technique for compressing large amounts of textual data into meaningful categories that reflect patterns, themes and underlying meanings. When applying this approach in linguistic research, the researcher can draw valid and objective conclusions about trends in academic publications by analysing the manifest and latent content. Krippendorff (2018) emphasises that content analysis is more than just counting words. It involves interpreting textual data in context and allows researchers to find out how certain themes, such as methodological choices or linguistic emphases, develop over time. In this study, the unit of analysis is the research article, and the coding categories include the year of publication, the research design, the linguistic aspect studied, the data source (e.g. social media platforms) and the method of analysis. Through a content analysis of some linguistic journals published in Indonesia from 2020-2024, this study aims to collect data on the variety of study that deals with linguistic phenomena in social media. In particular, this study aims to answer the following questions: (1) How was the trend of the number of linguistic researches? (2) How was the variety of research designs employed to investigate linguistic aspects? (3) What were the methods of data analysis used by the researchers to analyze linguistic aspects? (4) What was the most frequent social media platform used to investigate linguistic aspects? (5) What was the linguistic field that used by researcher as theoretical framework to analyze the data?" Through these research questions, this research aims to offer a more orderly comprehension of how linguistic research on social media in Indonesia has evolved over the years. In addition, it seeks to present an overview of prevailing IDEAS, Vol. 13, No. 1, June 2025 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 1751 methodological tendencies, most frequent linguistic aspect, and emerging challenges in the field. The findings will help to map current scholarly interests and identify future research directions in digital linguistics. Additionally, the outcome of this research can serve as a beneficial resource for linguists, educators, and digital media specialists who want to learn about the changing dynamics of language in terms of the age of digital technology. Furthermore, the results of this research serve as a valuable reference for linguists, educators and digital media practitioners interested in understanding the evolving landscape of language in the digital era. This study differs from previous research in several important respects. First, it focuses on all linguistics journals in Indonesia indexed by the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) from 2020 to 2024. It provides a broader and more up-to- date data set. Second, this study examines a variety of issues related to multiple aspects of linguistic research, guided by carefully selected categories that reflect the researcher’s analytical framework. Third, the categories used for each aspect are more varied and detailed than those found in similar previous studies. it allows more nuanced and in-depth analysis of the data. These distinctions contribute to the originality and depth of this research Method In this research, the researchers conducted descriptive research. The research method applied in this research was similar to that used by Fauzi and Pradipta (2018) which analyzed the contents of multiple researches published in Indonesia journals. This method requires a careful screening and scrutiny of literature to determine the trends, patterns, and themes concerned in the research. The data were taken from the journals downloaded from the websites of linguistics Journals in Indonesia and the word "Social Media" was used as a keyword in the search. From these steps, 52 Indonesian linguistic journals were obtained. Next, the journals were selected based on the criteria as follows: (1) Only peer- reviewed journal articles published between 2020 and 2024 were considered; (2) The journal articles had to be available in full text (open access) and related to the linguistics focus in social media; (3) The journal articles that were paid, unavailable in full text or did not match with the research focus were excluded. Based on the criteria, only 30 journals were used as data source for this study. Ahmad Fadli Harahap, Rizky Vita Losi, Hanna Maria Panggabean, Ronika Apriyanti Manik, Roobby Hamdanur, Tahan HJ Sihombing, Sahat Maringan Samosir The Trend of Linguistic Studies on Social Media in Indonesian Linguistic Journals 1752 Table 1. The List of Journals Used in This Study No Journal Publisher e-ISSN Website 1 Journal of English Language Teaching and Linguistics (JELTL) Yayasan Visi Intan Permata 2502- 6062 http://dx.doi.org /10.21462/jeltl. v5i3.464 2 Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching (IJELT) Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya 2655- 1977 https://doi.org/ 10.25170/ijelt.v 16i1.2550 3 Theory and Practice in Language Studies (TPLS) Academy Publication 1799- 2591 https://doi.org/ 10.17507/tpls.1 405.16 4 Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics (IJAL) Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia 2502- 6747 https://doi.org/ 10.17509/ijal.v1 3i2.63069 5 International Journal of English and Applied Linguistics (IJEAL) Information Technology and Science (ITScience) 2787- 9482 https://doi.org/ 10.47709/ijeal.v 4i1.3718 6 Journal of English Language Teaching, Linguistics, and Literature Studies (JELTIS) Institut Agama Islam Negeri (IAIN) Manado 2807- 422X http://journal.ia in- manado.ac.id/in dex.php/jeltis/in dex 7 Muqoddima: Jurnal Pemikiran dan Riset Sosiologi (MJPRS) Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Indonesia 2745- 7168 https://doi.org/ 10.47776/MJPR S.002.02.02 8 Bahtera: Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa dan Sastra Universitas Negeri Jakarta 2540- 8968 http://journal.u nj.ac.id/unj/inde x.php/bahtera/ 9 Sang Pencerah: Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan dan Sosial Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Sunan Ampel Surabaya 2655- 2906 https://doi.org/ 10.35326/pence rah.v7i4.1588 10 International Journal of English and Applied Linguistics (IJEAL) Information Technology and Science (ITScience) 2797- 9482 https://doi.org/ 10.47709/ijeal.v 3i2.2444 11 Jurnal Ilmiah Linguistik dan Pembelajaran (JILP) Fakultas Sastra Universitas Negeri Semarang 2581- 0804 http://e- journal.sastra- unes.com/index. php/JILP 12 Indonesian Journal of Universitas Islam Negeri 2527- http://dx.doi.org http://dx.doi.org/10.21462/jeltl.v5i3.464 http://dx.doi.org/10.21462/jeltl.v5i3.464 http://dx.doi.org/10.21462/jeltl.v5i3.464 https://doi.org/10.25170/ijelt.v16i1.2550 https://doi.org/10.25170/ijelt.v16i1.2550 https://doi.org/10.25170/ijelt.v16i1.2550 https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1405.16 https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1405.16 https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1405.16 http://dx.doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v13i2.63069 http://dx.doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v13i2.63069 https://doi.org/10.47709/ijeal.v4i1.3718 https://doi.org/10.47709/ijeal.v4i1.3718 https://doi.org/10.47709/ijeal.v4i1.3718 http://journal.iain-manado.ac.id/index.php/jeltis/index http://journal.iain-manado.ac.id/index.php/jeltis/index http://journal.iain-manado.ac.id/index.php/jeltis/index http://journal.iain-manado.ac.id/index.php/jeltis/index http://journal.iain-manado.ac.id/index.php/jeltis/index https://doi.org/10.47776/MJPRS.002.02.02 https://doi.org/10.47776/MJPRS.002.02.02 https://doi.org/10.47776/MJPRS.002.02.02 http://journal.unj.ac.id/unj/index.php/bahtera/ http://journal.unj.ac.id/unj/index.php/bahtera/ http://journal.unj.ac.id/unj/index.php/bahtera/ https://doi.org/10.35326/pencerah.v7i4.1588 https://doi.org/10.35326/pencerah.v7i4.1588 https://doi.org/10.35326/pencerah.v7i4.1588 https://doi.org/10.47709/ijeal.v3i2.2444 https://doi.org/10.47709/ijeal.v3i2.2444 https://doi.org/10.47709/ijeal.v3i2.2444 http://e-journal.sastra-unes.com/index.php/JILP http://e-journal.sastra-unes.com/index.php/JILP http://e-journal.sastra-unes.com/index.php/JILP http://e-journal.sastra-unes.com/index.php/JILP http://dx.doi.org/10.21093/ijeltal.v7i2.1307 IDEAS, Vol. 13, No. 1, June 2025 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 1753 English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (IJELTAL) Sultan Aji Muhammad Idris Samarinda 8746 /10.21093/ijelta l.v7i2.1307 13 Indonesian Journal of EFL and Linguistics (IJELF) Yayasan Visi Intan Permata 2503- 4197 https://doi.org/ 10.21462/ijefl.v 9i1.727 14 Indonesian Journal of EFL and Linguistics (IJELF) Yayasan Visi Intan Permata 2503- 4197 https://doi.org/ 10.21462/ijefl.v 7i1.477 15 Indonesian Journal of EFL and Linguistics (IJELF) Yayasan Visi Intan Permata 2503- 4197 https://doi.org/ 10.21462/ijefl.v 5i1.215 16 Lire Journal (Journal of Linguistics and Literature) Universitas Bangka Belitung, 2581- 2130 https://doi.org/ 10.33019/lire.v7 i1.175 17 Language Literacy: Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Language Teaching Universitas Islam Sumatera Utara (UISU) 2580- 9962 https://doi.org/ 10.30743/ll.v7i1 .7021 18 Linguists: Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching Universitas Islam Sumatera Utara (UISU) 2580- 9962 https://doi.org/ 10.30743/ll.v8i1 .9187 19 JL3T (Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Language Teaching) IAIN Langsa 2580- 2348 https://doi.org/ 10.32505/jl3t.v8 i1.4072 20 JL3T (Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Language Teaching) IAIN Langsa 2580- 2348 https://doi.org/ 10.32505/jl3t.v1 0i2.9411 21 e-Journal of Linguistics Universitas Udayana 2442- 7586 https://ojs.unud. ac.id/index.php/ eol/index 22 e-Journal of Linguistics Universitas Udayana 2442- 7586 https://ojs.unud. ac.id/index.php/ eol/index 23 Premise: Journal of English Education and Applied Linguistics Universitas Muhammadiyah Metro 2442- 482x https://fkip.um http://dx.doi.org/10.21093/ijeltal.v7i2.1307 http://dx.doi.org/10.21093/ijeltal.v7i2.1307 https://doi.org/10.21462/ijefl.v9i1.727 https://doi.org/10.21462/ijefl.v9i1.727 https://doi.org/10.21462/ijefl.v9i1.727 https://doi.org/10.21462/ijefl.v7i1.477 https://doi.org/10.21462/ijefl.v7i1.477 https://doi.org/10.21462/ijefl.v7i1.477 https://doi.org/10.21462/ijefl.v5i1.215 https://doi.org/10.21462/ijefl.v5i1.215 https://doi.org/10.21462/ijefl.v5i1.215 https://doi.org/10.33019/lire.v7i1.175 https://doi.org/10.33019/lire.v7i1.175 https://doi.org/10.33019/lire.v7i1.175 http://u.lipi.go.id/1498016796 http://u.lipi.go.id/1498016796 https://doi.org/10.30743/ll.v7i1.7021 https://doi.org/10.30743/ll.v7i1.7021 https://doi.org/10.30743/ll.v7i1.7021 http://u.lipi.go.id/1498016796 http://u.lipi.go.id/1498016796 https://doi.org/10.30743/ll.v8i1.9187 https://doi.org/10.30743/ll.v8i1.9187 https://doi.org/10.30743/ll.v8i1.9187 https://doi.org/10.32505/jl3t.v8i1.4072 https://doi.org/10.32505/jl3t.v8i1.4072 https://doi.org/10.32505/jl3t.v8i1.4072 https://doi.org/10.32505/jl3t.v10i2.9411 https://doi.org/10.32505/jl3t.v10i2.9411 https://doi.org/10.32505/jl3t.v10i2.9411 https://garuda.kemdikbud.go.id/journal/view/7296#! https://garuda.kemdikbud.go.id/journal/view/7296#! https://fkip.ummetro.ac.id/journal/index.php/english Ahmad Fadli Harahap, Rizky Vita Losi, Hanna Maria Panggabean, Ronika Apriyanti Manik, Roobby Hamdanur, Tahan HJ Sihombing, Sahat Maringan Samosir The Trend of Linguistic Studies on Social Media in Indonesian Linguistic Journals 1754 metro.ac.id/jour nal/index.php/e nglish 24 Journal of Literature, Linguistics and Culture Studies Universitas Negeri Semarang 2721- 4540 https://journal.unnes.ac.id/sju/index.php/ rainbow 25 Linguistic, English Education and Art (LEEA) Journal Institut Penelitian Matematika, Komputer, Keperawatan, Pendidikan dan Ekonomi 2597- 3819 https://doi.org/ 10.31539/leea.v 8i1.9949 26 Scope of English Language Teaching, Literature and Linguistics Universitas Muslim Maros 2655- 5417 https://doi.org/ 10.55678/loj.v8i 2.694 27 Scope of English Language Teaching, Literature and Linguistics Universitas Galuh 2598- 8530 https://jurnal.un igal.ac.id/index.p hp/jall/article/v iew/8003 28 Scope of English Language Teaching, Literature and Linguistics Universitas Galuh 2598- 8530 https://doi.org/ 10.25157/jall.v7 i1.9216 29 International Journal of English and Applied Linguistics Information Technology and Science (ITScience) 2797- 9482 https://doi.org/ 10.47709/ijeal.v 1i1.968 30 International Journal of English and Applied Linguistics Information Technology and Science (ITScience) 2797- 9482 https://doi.org/ 10.47709/ijeal.v 2i2.1676 The instrument used for this current research was a guideline of content analysis. There were six main aspects to review for content analysis in this research. Those aspects included (1) publication number per year; (2) research design; (3) data analysis method; (4) Social media platform chosen for the researches; (5) linguistic field explored in the researches. The data analysis technique used in this research was content analysis based on Krippendorff’s (2018) framework. it is applied to the data of this research to identify specified catagories from the materials. Each of data were classified into six main aspects mentioned above. Furthermore, the data that had been collected were presented in a bar chart. https://fkip.ummetro.ac.id/journal/index.php/english https://fkip.ummetro.ac.id/journal/index.php/english https://fkip.ummetro.ac.id/journal/index.php/english http://issn.pdii.lipi.go.id/issn.cgi?daftar&1576657687&1&& http://issn.pdii.lipi.go.id/issn.cgi?daftar&1576657687&1&& http://dx.doi.org/10.55678/loj.v8i2.694 http://dx.doi.org/10.55678/loj.v8i2.694 https://dx.doi.org/10.25157/jall.v7i1.9216 https://dx.doi.org/10.25157/jall.v7i1.9216 https://doi.org/10.47709/ijeal.v1i1.968 https://doi.org/10.47709/ijeal.v1i1.968 https://doi.org/10.47709/ijeal.v1i1.968 https://doi.org/10.47709/ijeal.v2i2.1676 https://doi.org/10.47709/ijeal.v2i2.1676 https://doi.org/10.47709/ijeal.v2i2.1676 IDEAS, Vol. 13, No. 1, June 2025 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 1755 Results Publication Number The number of published articles is an indicator of how often research on a particular topic was conducted over a specific period. Figure 1 displays a bar graph showing the trend of linguistic researches on social media published in Indonesian linguistic journals from 2020 to 2024. Figure 1. The Improvement Trend of the Number of Linguistic Researches on Social Media as the Data Source Concern in Indonesia in 5 Years The graph shows that research in this area began to gain attention in 2020 and has shown a significant increase in subsequent years. Despite the annual fluctuations in the number of publications, the overall trend indicates consolidation of researchers' interest in investigating linguistic phenomena within the context of social media. This upward trend reflects the significant increase in linguistic research related to social media and indicates that this topic is becoming an important area of scientific research in Indonesia. The trend in linguistic research on social media based on the journals published in Indonesian academic journals has shown a general upward trend over the past five years. In 2020, there were only 3 (10%) articles marking the initial phase of academic interest in observing linguistic phenomena in social media spaces. This This number increased to 5 (17%) articles in 2021. It indicates that this topic shows an increased awareness and academic interest. There was a steep rise in 2022 with 7 (23%) articles, which meant that the topic is being taken up more frequently by researchers. Even though the number dropped slightly to 5 (17%) articles in 2023, interest did not fall back to previous figures but remained. The strongest increase was recorded in 2024, when the number of publications reached 10 (30%). This increase is more than three times the amount of research published in 2020 and indicates an emerging field of research on the use and impact of language on digital communication. Ahmad Fadli Harahap, Rizky Vita Losi, Hanna Maria Panggabean, Ronika Apriyanti Manik, Roobby Hamdanur, Tahan HJ Sihombing, Sahat Maringan Samosir The Trend of Linguistic Studies on Social Media in Indonesian Linguistic Journals 1756 Research Design The types of research design used in linguistic researches reflect the methodological diversity and depth of enquiry in linguistic field. Based on Figure 2, the research designs used in Indonesian journals to investigate linguistic aspects in social media shows a strong bias towards qualitative design. it can be seen from following graph: Figure 2. The Distribution of Linguistic Researches with social media as the Data Source based on Research Design The data indicate that qualitative research design dominates the field with 28 (93%) out of the total articles analyzed use this approach. This finding reflects the suitability of qualitative methods for exploring language use in social contexts, discourse patterns and communicative practices that are typical of social media interactions. Qualitative research allows for in-depth textual and contextual analysis. This design is an appropriate choice for linguists investigating meaning, identity and discourse strategies in online platforms. In contrast, quantitative designs were only used in 2 (7%) articles. This limited use suggests that numerical or statistical analyses play a smaller role in current linguistic research on social media in Indonesia, possibly due to the complexity of quantifying language behaviour or the lack of large-scale linguistic datasets of social media platforms. Nevertheless, these researches contribute valuable insights by measuring patterns, frequencies or correlations in language features or user behavior. Furthermore, mixed-methods designs were found in two researches. They showing that a number of researchers chose to combine the strengths of both qualitative and quantitative approaches. This preference indicates that researchers recognize the benefits of combining qualitative with quantitative design. By adopting mixed-method design, they are able to explore the nuanced features of language use on social media and support their findings with measurable evidence and broader patterns. IDEAS, Vol. 13, No. 1, June 2025 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 1757 Data Analysis The analysis of the data shows a remarkable pattern in the analytic a approaches. As shown in Figure 3, the researchers predominantly used content analysis found in 20 (67%) researches. This overwhelming preference indicates a strong tendency to interpret textual data in a descriptive and thematic way. This approach fits well with the nature of social media discourse. It often features informal, varied and context-rich language. Figure 3. The Data Analysis Used in Linguistic Researches with Social Media as the Data Source In addition, critical discourse analysis was found in 3 (10%) articles. This approach reflects an interest in how language reflects and reinforces power structures, ideologies and social norms on digital platforms. The use of critical discourse analysis demonstrates the academic interest in the deeper socio-political implications of online language use. Other methods only appeared sporadically and were only used in 1 (3%) article. These include the interactive analysis model, multimodal discourse analysis, thematic analysis, percentage analysis, text analysis, the T-test and the model of Miles' model. Although they are not very common in linguistic researches, they indicate a degree of methodological experimentation and an endeavor to tailor the analysis techniques to specific research objectives and data types. Ahmad Fadli Harahap, Rizky Vita Losi, Hanna Maria Panggabean, Ronika Apriyanti Manik, Roobby Hamdanur, Tahan HJ Sihombing, Sahat Maringan Samosir The Trend of Linguistic Studies on Social Media in Indonesian Linguistic Journals 1758 Social Media Platform The number of researches using particular social media platforms as data sources is an indicator of their relevance and appeal within academic research. Figure 4 displays a bar chart illustrating the distribution of social media platforms used in linguistic researches published in Indonesian linguistics journals from 2020 to 2024. Figure 4. The Social Media Platform as the Data Source Used in Linguistic Researches The graph shows that Instagram is the most frequently platform used as data resources in linguistic research. It was found that 11 (37%) articles used this platform. This finding shows that Instagram’s unique integration of images, captions, and hashtags provides rich multimodal content that is attractive to researchers. The platform also reflects current trends and youth language, which may explain its dominant presence in recent academic publications. YouTube is the second most frequently used platform in linguistic research, with 8 (27%) articles. Its video-based content conveys authentic spoken discourse, allowing researchers to examine aspects of pragmatics, conversation analysis, and discourse structure the wide range of content — from vlogs to tutorials — makes YouTube an ideal platform for analysing language use in formal and informal situations. Researchers particularly appreciate the comment sections, which reflect different public opinions and spontaneous digital interactions. Facebook and TikTok are each used in 5 (17%) articles, indicating a moderate level of academic attention. Facebook is frequently chosen for its longer text-based interactions and community-based communication, which are suitable for discourse and sociolinguistic analyses. TikTok, on the other hand, is attracting growing interest with its short video format and creative use of language. The multimodal nature of the platform — the combination of speech, gestures, music and text on the screen — makes it valuable for the research of semiotics and digital storytelling. The platform's appeal to younger demographics is also in line with IDEAS, Vol. 13, No. 1, June 2025 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 1759 research on digital language trends. Linguistic Field The theoretical framework chosen in linguistic research reflects the researchers’ primary interest in analyzing specific aspects of linguistic phenomena. Figure 5 displays a bar graph showing the distribution of linguistic fields used as theoretical frameworks in journal articles focusing on social media as published in Indonesian linguistics journals between 2020 and 2024. Figure 5. The Linguistic Field Used as Theoretical Frameworks in Linguistic Journals with Social Media as Data Source The graph reveals that pragmatics is the most frequently used by the researcher in their articles. It found that 11 (37%) articles used it as the core theoretical framework. This dominance suggests that researchers are particularly interested in exploring how meaning is constructed in social contexts, especially through speech acts, implicature, politeness, and context-bound interpretation of digital communication. Social media, with its informal and often ambiguous nature, provides a fertile ground for pragmatic analysis. This finding shows that pragmatic theories are very effective for analyzing language use in online interactions where context plays a central role. The second most frequently used area is sociolinguistics. It found that 9 (30%) researches used it as the core theoretical framework. This finding indicates that many researchers were concerned with the relationship between language and society, especially how language in social media reflects identity, group membership, power relations, and language variation. Social platforms are inherently social, making them ideal environments for sociolinguistic research. This growing body of research shows that researchers were interested in understanding how online language use reflects and shapes social behavior. Ahmad Fadli Harahap, Rizky Vita Losi, Hanna Maria Panggabean, Ronika Apriyanti Manik, Roobby Hamdanur, Tahan HJ Sihombing, Sahat Maringan Samosir The Trend of Linguistic Studies on Social Media in Indonesian Linguistic Journals 1760 Both forensic linguistics and discourse analysis are mentioned in 4 (13%) articles each. This finding indicates a moderate level of interest. Forensic linguistics is typically concerned with the research of language for legal or investigative purposes in the context of social media. This linguistic field involves analyzing cyberbullying, threats, or digital evidence. Discourse analysis, on the other hand, focuses on how longer stretches of language are structured and how meaning is constructed beyond the sentence level. Moreover, it indicates an interest in investigating how narratives, ideologies, and patterns of interaction are constructed in digital discourse. At the lower end of the spectrum, language acquisition and morphology were only used in 1 (3%) article. Language acquisition in social media analyzes how digital environments support second language learning or informal linguistic development, while morphology examines the structure of words. These two fields were used less frequently due to the nature of language in social media which often priorities pragmatic or social functions over structural analysis. Discussion Starting with only three articles in 2020, the gradual rise to five articles in 2021 suggests an emerging awareness among researchers regarding the linguistic phenomena present in social media environments. The notable jump to seven articles in 2022 further underscores this growing academic engagement, indicating that researchers are increasingly recognizing the relevance of social media as a rich site for linguistic inquiry. Although the number of publications dipped slightly to five in 2023, this stabilization suggests that the interest in this area has matured rather than diminished. The most striking development occurred in 2024, with publications soaring to ten, more than tripling the output from 2020. This upward trajectory not only highlights the expanding scope of research on the use and impact of language in digital communication but also positions social media as a vital field for ongoing linguistic exploration (Cylkowski, 2020). As researchers continue to investigate these trends, it is clear that social media is becoming an essential focus for linguistic studies in Indonesia. The variety of research designs used to investigate linguistic aspects in social media shows a dominant reliance on qualitative design. Qualitative research design was conceptualized and manifested in applied linguistic research (Yahya et al., 2023). However, it was found that some researcher used mixed method for the research design. This pattern reflects a growing methodological awareness and flexibility among researchers in addressing the complex nature of digital communication. The variety of data analysis methods used in linguistic researches on social media published in Indonesian journals is dominated by qualitative approaches. The extensive use of content analysis, supported by the occasional application of IDEAS, Vol. 13, No. 1, June 2025 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 1761 other methods, shows a strong preference for interpretative and context-sensitive analyses. The strong preference for analysis because it allows researchers to examine the meanings, themes and patterns that emerge from language use in their specific social and cultural context. In studies of social media, where language is often informal, multimodal and characterised by real-time interaction, qualitative methods such as content analysis are well suited to uncovering implicit meanings, speaker intentions and contextual nuances that quantitative methods might overlook (Kircher & Zipp, 2022). Nonetheless, the presence of different techniques reflects a growing awareness of the need to adapt analysis strategies to the evolving forms and functions of language in digital communication (Liauw, 2022). The inclusion of quantitative methods such as percentage analysis and T-test, they indicate that some researchers attempted to incorporate numerical interpretation into the research of linguistic phenomena. Similarly, multimodal discourse analysis recognises the multimodal nature of social media communication, which often includes text, images, emojis and videos (Xu et al., 2023). Instagram and YouTube are the dominant platforms utilized in Indonesian linguistic research, with Instagram being the most frequently used, featured in 11 studies. This popularity is attributed to Instagram's unique combination of images, captions, and hashtags, which provide rich multimodal content that resonates with current trends and youth language. Instagram is a social media platform that greatly influences the sales of a company’s products. With 700 million users currently, it plays a significant role in business marketing. Each day, 60 million photos are shared on Instagram, garnering 1.6 billion likes (Losi et al., 2022). YouTube follows as the second most used platform, with eight studies, allowing researchers to analyze authentic spoken discourse through its diverse video content. Both platforms reflect a growing academic interest in the linguistic diversity of social media, emphasizing the dynamic relationship between language and digital media. This trend underscores the need for further exploration into how technology is shaping communication practices. Pragmatics dominate the theoretical frameworks used in Indonesian linguistic research on social media, with pragmatics being the most frequently applied framework in 11 studies. This trend indicates that the focus of theoretical framework used by researcher is the functional, contextual and social dimensions of language in online spaces. Sociolinguistics follows closely with nine studies, highlighting researchers' focus on the relationship between language and society, including identity and social behavior. While forensic linguistics and discourse analysis receive moderate attention in four studies each, areas like language acquisition and morphology are less frequently explored, indicating a shift towards functional and contextual analyses over structural ones. Ahmad Fadli Harahap, Rizky Vita Losi, Hanna Maria Panggabean, Ronika Apriyanti Manik, Roobby Hamdanur, Tahan HJ Sihombing, Sahat Maringan Samosir The Trend of Linguistic Studies on Social Media in Indonesian Linguistic Journals 1762 Overall, this trend reflects a growing emphasis on the social and pragmatic dimensions of language use in digital communication. The dominance of pragmatics as a theoretical framework in Indonesian linguistics on social media has several important implications. First, it highlights the fact that scholars prioritize the processes of meaning making, speaker intention and contextual interpretation in analyzing online discourse. This aligned with the inherently interactive and situational nature of social media (Wang, 2020). Second, this focus allows researchers to capture the subtleties of how language functions in different online environments. This includes how users convey politeness, irony, humor, or power dynamics. Third, this trend may also indicate an imbalance in theoretical research that limits the scope of linguistic inquiry, as structural and cognitive aspects of language, such as syntax, phonology or language processing, are underrepresented. While the emphasis on pragmatics increases the depth of socio-contextual understanding (Abdullah, 2022), it also signals the need for greater theoretical diversity to provide a more holistic view of language behavior in social media. Conclusion This recent study examined articles that investigated linguistic aspects using social media as a data source and were published in Indonesian linguistics journals from 2020 to 2024. The trend showed a steady increase in the number of publications, indicating a growing academic interest in exploring language use in digital communication spaces. A significant increase was observed over the five- year period, with the highest number of publications in 2024. Qualitative research designs were predominantly used among the articles analyzed. This result shows the suitability of such approaches for investigating contextual and interpretative aspects of language in social media. Quantitative and mixed methods, on the other hand, were used in significantly fewer studies. In terms of data analysis, content analysis was the most frequently used method, followed by critical discourse analysis and several other less common techniques, illustrating a strong bias towards descriptive and thematic interpretations of digital discourse. In terms of platforms, Instagram was the most commonly used for data collection, followed by YouTube, Facebook and TikTok. This preference suggests that researchers are attracted to platforms that offer rich multimodal content and active user interaction. Finally, pragmatics and sociolinguistics were the most frequently adopted theoretical frameworks. This finding indicates a focus on the functional, contextual and social dimensions of language in online environments. This was followed by areas such as forensic linguistics and discourse analysis, while morphology and language acquisition were barely represented. IDEAS, Vol. 13, No. 1, June 2025 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 1763 Alluding to the results of this study, several recommendations for future research are proposed. Firstly, efforts should be made to diversify research designs by encouraging more mixed methods and quantitative approaches in order to obtain a balanced perspective. Second, there is a need to broaden the range of linguistic domains studied to include structural and developmental aspects of language. Third, the inclusion of less utilised or emerging social media platforms such as Threads is recommended to capture evolving digital communication patterns and trends. As newer platforms often reflect more current language practises and social dynamics, they offer valuable opportunities for new linguistic insights. 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