A comparison of climate change lexical creativity among American, European and international Twitter users

Abstract

Climate change is an environmental, social, cultural and political phenomenon which has led to a bitter controversy among political leaders, social movements, and activists. The aim of this case study is to analyze lexical innovations in climate change discourse in the micro-blogging service Twitter, and more in particular, in the use of English language through hashtags by a new generation of young activists, NGOs, and American and European politicians and organizations in the time frame from 2015 to 2020. By means of this case study, we prove that, through the creativity of hashtags, Twitter users can take part in the heart of a discussion related to climate change leading to a valuable interpretive framework.