The paper explores the use and understanding of English words / expressions in virtual communication of young people. In the first, theoretical part of the paper, the status of English as a global language, the language of social networks, the language of the media is considered. English is considered a globally widespread language used for communication between people around the world. The paper will define the role of the English language in the virtual communication of young people. The introductory part explains the globalization of the English language and the influence of different languages on Croatian. The theoretical part of the paper deals with the influence of social networks and media, and the discovery of the most commonly used English words in virtual communication. The second part of the paper presents a survey conducted on a sample of 97 pupils and students in the Republic of Croatia. For the purposes of the research, a survey questionnaire was compiled, which was used to determine the frequency of use and understanding of English words / expressions in virtual communication. It starts from the assumption that young people often use and understand English words and expressions. The results of the study confirmed the initial assumption.