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Description
Introduction. The spread of the internet use in the 1990s led to the emergence of a new communication and linguistic mode. The study aims to explore how the use of a particular social network site, Instagram influences the linguistic style of the Hungarian police in the online sphere.
Method. This study deals with the linguistic characteristics of the posts (N=122) created on the Instagram profile of the Hungarian Police in two periods: The first sampling period was the first month of the site’s launch, and then sampling was repeated a year later using the methodology of netlinguistics.
Analysis. As a methodological framework, netlinguistics was observed by Veszelszki’s term digilect while applying the method of computer-mediated discourse analysis work. At first, data was coded manually, then it was checked by using NVivo qualitative data analysis software.
Results. The results show that there is a more informal linguistic style if comparing the former linguistic style of the Hungarian police, and this digital linguistic style is clearer and more understandable to the audience.
Conclusions. A new language variant with special linguistic characteristics has appeared by the Hungarian Police on Instagram. It bears special quantitative and qualitative features. Using such, the relations between the police and citizens can be improved, and there is a possibility to build trust.
