FUNCTIONING OF THE FORMS OF ADDRESS "ТЫ" (YOU) AND "ВЫ" (YOU) IN THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE IN MODERN DIGITAL COMMUNICATION

The T-V distinction in Russian (ты/вы) traditionally encodes social distance, power relations, solidarity, and politeness. This article study explores how these forms operate in contemporary digital environments characterized by anonymity, reduced social cues, rapid rapport-building, and hybrid oral-written discourse. Through synthesis of key scholarly works and illustrative examples from Russian-language online platforms, the analysis demonstrates a predominant shift toward informal ты in casual digital spaces, while вы retains functions of maintaining distance, signaling respect, or expressing conflict. Factors such as platform culture, age, gender, topic, and Western linguistic influence shape these choices. The study highlights the ongoing formation of netiquette as a hybrid system blending traditional Russian etiquette with global digital norms. Findings suggest partial erosion of offline hierarchies alongside cultural resilience of pragmatic distinctions.