Teenagers are often linguistic innovators and deemed to be key agents of linguistic change (Eckert, 1988; Tagliamonte, 2016), given the “intense identity work that goes on during adolescence” (Eckert, 2018, p.31). Adopting a Third Wave sociolinguistic approach (Eckert, 2012), this study explores the stylistic practices and identity enactment of Singaporean adolescents engaging in online gameplay. Drawing on concepts of indexicality (Silverstein, 2003), it conducts micro-level stance analyses in interactions (Du Bois, 2007; Kiesling, 2022), with the aim of further understanding linguistic choices and the construction of personae or social identities (Eckert, 2012).

Data was collected from nine groups of 5-10 peers (total N = 67) with audio and screens recorded playing the online game, Among Us. Over 10 hours of audio and video were recorded and transcribed using Conversation Analysis conventions (Hepburn & Bolden, 2012). Post-hoc interviews were conducted to elicit participants’ rationale for using specific linguistic features in their interactions and the personae they believed were invoked when using such features.

The Colloquial Singapore English discourse-pragmatic marker (DPM) sia/sial emerged as a salient feature in the data, as did the address term/DPM bro/bruh to index multiple stances. Sia(l) was used to index solidarity, annoyance and/or disdain, and coolness and detachment, and to elicit a response. Bro/bruh was used as an address term, especially in utterance-initial position, but was also used to mark solidarity and a playful and/or jocular stance (see Appendix). Participants’ responses from the post-hoc interviews elicited various social stereotypes indexed by these features. Sia(l) indexed the persona of a ‘Young Punk’ / ‘Xiao Mei Mei’, ‘Matrep’/’Minah’, ‘(Step) Malay’ and a ‘typical Singaporean’. The use of bro/bruh indexed ‘Jocks’/Athletes, Gamers / Streamers, Influencers and ‘Pick-Me girls’ (when used by females). These findings elucidate the complex relationship between language and identity enactment in an informal and locally meaningful context.