Abstract

This study examines the linguistic landscape of social media through an analysis of posts about the city of Astana published on Facebook and Threads. The relevance of investigating the linguistic landscape in digital environments stems from a fundamental shift: social media platforms are evolving into autonomous semiotic territories in which language choice, toponymic markers, and discursive patterns construct alternative mappings of the city (Ivkovic & Lotherington, 2009). The virtual image of the capital thus emerges as a significant factor in urban policy and shapes residents’ perceptions of urban space.

The corpus consists of user-generated posts containing Astana-related geotags, published between 2023 and 2025. Unlike physical space, the digital landscape is characterized by rapid change, a polyphony of voices, and the possibility of immediate feedback, making it a sensitive indicator of social tensions and identity shifts. Analysis of the virtual linguistic landscape enables the identification of informal meaning-making practices related to the urban environment that often remain outside official representations.

The study aims to identify the key linguistic strategies employed by residents in representing Astana on Facebook and Threads and to examine the relationship between language choice and discursive practices. It hypothesizes that the use of Kazakh, Russian, and hybrid forms, along with specific toponymic practices, not only reflects existing social hierarchies but also actively constructs meanings of urban belonging that may diverge from the official narrative. The study combines quantitative analysis of language distribution with qualitative analysis of self-positioning strategies. The research questions operate on three levels: (1) the distribution of languages and patterns of code-switching; (2) discursive techniques used to mark urban belonging; and (3) the relationship between linguistic visibility and the semantic density of identity construction in audience responses.

The findings indicate that Astana’s virtual linguistic landscape functions as a counter-narrative to the city’s official image, enabling citizens to construct urban identities through irony, code-switching, and the symbolic reappropriation of space. In doing so, the study demonstrates how digitally mediated discourse operates as a critical layer of contemporary urban semiotics in Central Asian contexts, thereby contributing to sociolinguistic scholarship and extending the theory of the virtual linguistic landscape (Ivkovic & Lotherington, 2009) to a previously underexplored regional setting. The findings also have practical implications for the development of more inclusive communication strategies by municipal authorities.

References:

Ivkovic, D., & Lotherington, H. (2009). Multilingualism in cyberspace: Conceptualising the virtual linguistic landscape. International Journal of Multilingualism, 6(1), 17–36.