THE PHENOMENON OF CODE -SWITCHING IN DIGITAL COMMUNICATION AMONG INDONESIAN YOUTH

Abstract

This study explores the phenomenon of code -switching in digital communication among Indonesian youth, focusing on how Bahasa Indonesia is blended with English and regional languages such as Sundanese and Javanese on social media platforms including Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, data were collected through digital text observation of approximately 500 social media posts and messages, semi-structured interviews with fifteen university students aged 18–24, and content analysis grounded in Myers-Scotton's Markedness Model and Gumperz's theory of conversational code-switching. Findings reveal three dominant patterns of code-switching—intrasentential insertion, intersentential alternation, and tag-switching—each serving distinct communicative purposes. Rather than reflecting a deficiency in language competence, code-switching functions as a deliberate social and stylistic resource through which youth construct identity, signal in-group solidarity, fill lexical gaps, and manage affective tone. The study also finds that code-switching patterns vary systematically across digital platforms, shaped by each platform's affordances and social norms. These findings suggest that code-switching should be regarded as a sophisticated form of bilingual competence rather than an error to be corrected, with implications for language education, sociolinguistic research, and the broader understanding of youth identity in Indonesia's digital landscape.