Change and Variation in the Bulgarian Language of the Internet and Social Media

The Internet has become the main tool for searching for information and communicating, and new forms of communication, namely, computer-mediated communication, are rapidly overtaking more conventional forms. However, the internet and new types of computer-mediated communication have had a considerable influence on our language. This study focused on the changes and variations in the Bulgarian language of the internet and social media, paying special attention to the use of the definite article. In addition to the analysis of the changes that are observed in the use of article forms in the text of new media and the internet, the study attempted to explore the factors that could bring about the changes.