HASHTAGS AS A MEANS OF LINGUISTIC CREATIVITY

 The article examines hashtags as a special form of linguistic creativity in modern Internet communication. The relevance of the study is determined by the active spread of hashtags in social networks, messengers, and digital media, where they perform not only navigational but also expressive, evaluative, playful, identificational, and pragmatic functions. The purpose of the article is to identify the linguocreative features of hashtags based on Russian-language youth Internet communication. The study analyzes word-formation models, graphic techniques, language play, code-mixing, compression of meaning, and ways of expressing emotional evaluation in hashtags. The research material consists of examples of hashtags functioning in posts and comments by users of the social platforms Instagram, Telegram, TikTok, and X/Twitter. The descriptive method, contextual analysis, and elements of word-formation and pragmatic analysis were used. The results of the study show that the hashtag functions not only as a technical search marker but also as an independent microtextual unit capable of concentrating the author’s position, creating a comic effect, forming group identity, and strengthening the impact of an Internet utterance.