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Article published In: Spanish in Context
Vol. 22:3 (2025) ► pp.625–656

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Digital metacommunication

Exploring language attitudes towards Voseo across social media platforms

ORCiD logo with link | Georgetown University
Published online: 10 December 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/sic.24013.kil
Abstract
This study explores language attitudes towards voseo as expressed in metalinguistic comments across social media platforms. Employing a quantitative approach, this research utilizes sentiment analysis, ordinal logistic regression, and multiple logistic regression models to uncover diverse sentiments and perceptions of voseo across 21 Spanish-speaking countries and three social media platforms. The results indicate that attitudes toward voseo are shaped by a constellation of factors, including its association with regional identity, the commenter’s country of origin, and localized social stigma directed at voseante speakers. These findings highlight how social media platforms serve as globalized arenas where language ideologies are both reflected and actively shaped, as perceptions of voseo are dynamically negotiated through cross-cultural online interactions, enabling the perpetuation of stigmatizing ideologies while simultaneously fostering opportunities for their contestation and reevaluation.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1Historical meanings and interpretations of voseo
    • 2.2Previously elicited language attitudes towards voseo
    • 2.3Metalinguistic commentary in digital spaces
    • 2.4A brief overview of TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube
    • 2.5Sentiment analysis
    • 2.6Research questions
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Creating the corpus
    • 3.2Coding the data
    • 3.3Analyzing the data
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1A cross-platform overview: Sentiment analysis results
    • 4.2Country-based differences in sentiment: Ordinal logistic regression results
    • 4.3Factors predicting negative sentiment: Multiple logistic regression results
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Limitations
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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