Digital Literacies and Literary Expression in the Social Media Age

Abstract

This paper examines how digital platforms and social media have transformed literary expression, reading practices, and the concept of authorship in the twenty-first century. It analyzes the emergence of new literary forms including Twitterature, Instagram poetry, fan fiction, and interactive digital narratives, situating these phenomena within broader transformations in literacy practices. Drawing upon the New Literacy Studies framework and digital humanities scholarship, the study argues that social media has democratized literary production while simultaneously reshaping the linguistic conventions, aesthetic values, and institutional structures of literary culture. The paper considers the implications of these transformations for literary studies, creative writing pedagogy, and the future of reading in an attention-scarce digital environment.