Abstract

This study explores how the “X-ren (X人)” construction in Chinese Internet neologisms―particularly dagongren (打工人), weikuanren (尾款人), and shekongren (社恐人)―reconstructs generational identity and social discourse among China's young generation. Using qualitative content analysis of SNS data from Weibo, Bilibili, and Xiaohongshu (2019-2024), the research reveals that dagongren represents labor fatigue transformed into humor and self-irony, weikuanren expresses consumption anxiety through satire, and shekongren converts relational exhaustion into a language of empathy within emotional communities. The “X-ren” formation functions as a discursive arena intertwining language, cognition, and society, illustrating how young Chinese negotiate identity and solidarity through linguistic creativity under structural pressures. This study interprets Internet neologisms not merely as linguistic fads but as sociolinguistic practices of generational emotion, offering new insights for comparative East Asian discourse studies.