Generation X, Y and Z and digital language practices: Intra- and intergenerational meaning-making, adaptation and attitudes (XYZdigi)

The project XYZdigi examines generational differences in Finland-Swedish digital language practices. The project also compares the Finland-Swedish digital language practices with those of Sweden-Swedish, Finnish and Danish language users.

Table of contents

Project duration
-
Core fields of research
Languages, culture and society
Information technology and the human in the knowledge society
Research areas
Media landscapes, uses and practices
Discourses, identities and mobilities
Multiliteracies and knowledge construction
Department
Department of Language and Communication Studies
Co-operation
University of Gothenburg, University of Copenhagen
Faculty
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Funding
Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland
(Society of Swedish Literature in Finland)

Project description

The sociolinguistic research project XYZdigi examines whether there are generational differences in Finland-Swedish digital language practices, how different generations understand and possibly adapt to each other and how they experience each other's digital language practices. The project's focus is on 15–25-year-olds (younger), about 40–50-year-olds (middle-aged) and language users that are over 65 years (older). The Finland-Swedish digital language practices from the mid-2020s are also compared with those of Sweden-Swedish, Finnish and Danish language users.

Data collection in XYZdigi takes place in three stages:

  1. ethnographic fieldwork in Finland and Denmark (2025–2026, with a focus on Finland-Swedish and Danish digital language practices)
  2. role-play experiments in Finland (2026–2027, with a focus on Finland-Swedish digital language practices)
  3. a sociolinguistic survey in Finland, Sweden and Denmark (2027, with a focus on Finland-Swedish, Finnish, Sweden-Swedish and Danish digital language practices). 

The project is based in the University of Jyväskylä (with Åsa Palviainen as the project leader) and carried out in collaboration with the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. The project is financed by the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland (2025–2028).

Here below you will find the privacy notice and research notification (for the ethnographic fieldwork in Finland) for the research participants.