Language Choice, Code Mixing, and Digital Identity: A Study of Lifestyle Pakistani Vloggers

Abstract

The research problem of the study is as follows: how Pakistani lifestyle vloggers are strategically using bilingualism (Urdu and English) to build their digital identities and interact with their audiences on YouTube. In a qualitative discourse analysis of a purposively selected sample of 15 high-engagement lifestyle vlogs, the study explores the code-mixing and code-switching patterns using the framework of Gumperz in order to comprehend the social and performative role of these processes. The data show that the prevalent code-mixing linguistic practice is intra-sentential code-mixing, in which English words are inserted into Urdu sentences. This language hybridity is a symbolic identity, as it presents a contemporary, well-educated, and cosmopolitan identity, and at the same time, it creates a sense of authenticity and closeness with the local, bilingual viewers. Strategic use of English is also usually limited to technical words or emphasis and humor, whereas Urdu makes the story rooted in the cultural context, which shows the mastery of maneuvering in a complicated linguistic environment of the vloggers. This study shows the importance of linguistic hybridity in the digital self-representation process and plays its role in the sociolinguistics of new media in South Asia, implying that future works should address the audience response and the cross-genre comparisons of such code-mixing strategies.