Globalization and Modern Technologies as Factors in the Transformation of Linguistic Norms in Digital Discourse

The study is devoted to the analysis of the impact of globalization and digital technologies on the transformation of language norms in modern digital discourse. The relevance of the work is due to the growing role of digital communication, in which language becomes a key factor of cultural identity and social integration. The goal is to identify interdependencies between the level of digital maturity of states, the intensity of language hybridization and the dynamics of sociolinguistic variability. The object of the study is the digital language space of the global communication environment. The methodology is based on a combination of systemic, institutional, econometric and corpus-linguistic approaches using official statistical databases and corpora of digital texts for 2015–2024. The results show that during this period ICT Development Index increased from 5.32 to 7.41 points, DESI Index – from 48.7 to 70.4 points, and the share of Internet users – from 58.2% to 84.3%. At the same time, the number of languages with digital representation increased from 312 to 387, and the share of English-language content decreased from 55.1% to 49.3%. The hybridization index increased from 0.42 to 0.61, clearly indicating the establishment of a polycentric mode or multi-node digital discourse. Hybridization is both method and degree: different languages or their structural elements used in the same message (verbal or symbolic), as well as fully/partially mixed code messages; hashtags expressed in different linguistic forms/fonts, etc. (multimedia message). This means how various linguistic components are arranged within one structural unit up to multimedia messages comprising codes written with different fonts‐forms on various levels of hybridity. The econometric model registered a very high positive correlation between digital maturity and hybridization (r=0.82).