Selfie neologisms in social networks

The paper deals with modern trends in word formation connected with the development of virtual communication, social networks distribution and the possibility to be present in cyberspace on a permanent basis. The research concentrates on social media interaction as the main source of neologisms that reflect and describe digital portraits Internet users make and post on the web. Preconditions for newly coined words to continue their existence and become common are considered. Digitalization provides a large spectrum of opportunities for neologisms to be noticed by a wider audience and creates a demand for new coinages. At the same time, a new word should be similar to those existing in a given language in order to arouse interest of potential users. For this reason, the article considers different mechanisms of neological word formation that proved to be efficient. The methods used allow to assess the derivational potential of new coinages, define the most productive word building techniques, adequately interpret the words’ meaning and classify the neologisms under consideration into groups. The results obtained show relevance of digital portrait-based coinage in modern English and demonstrate prospects for further research in the field of digital communication neology.