Executing Identity in Digital Discourse: A Conceptual Structure for Sociolinguistic Research

Abstract

This paper develops a sociolinguistic framework for analysing identity enactment in digital communication, arguing that digital identity is not a static trait transferred online but becomes recognizable through recurrent linguistic, multimodal, interactional, and platform-conditioned practices. It consolidates four analytical dimensions: linguistic styling, multimodal self-presentation, interactional positioning, and platformed visibility, connected to established perspectives on identity-in-interaction, performativity, audience design, indexicality, multimodality, and platform society. The contribution is conceptual and methodological; it specifies a bounded-corpus research design, a coding framework, procedures for distinguishing self-identification from audience attribution and analyst inference, and safeguards against overclaiming platform causation. Particular attention is given to multilingual digital discourse, where dialect choice, code-switching, orthography, emoji, and interactional stance jointly construct social positions. Identity meaning depends on context, audience, uptake, and platform conditions rather than form alone. The framework is intended as a reproducible basis for future empirical sociolinguistic research rather than a substitute for data.