In “Algospeak: How Social Media is Transforming the Future of Language,” author Adam Aleksic explores how algorithms are reshaping the words we use and the ways in which we communicate.
Known online as “Etymology Nerd,” the Harvard-educated content creator, who co-founded and led the Harvard Undergraduate Linguistics Society, has been digging into word origins since 2016. He has built a wide audience with his bite-sized educational TikTok videos which explain where trending words come from and how they spread.
The term “algospeak” blends “algorithm” with a concept popularized by tech journalist and fellow book author Taylor Lorenz, describing how creators adapt language to avoid platform restrictions.
“Social media platforms want to promote the most compelling content possible so it makes sense that the words will reach us through maximally compelling mediums, like memes rather than something more serious. ‘Unalive’ is far more likely to spread today than boring traditional alternatives, such as ‘passed away’,” Aleksic writes.
The word “unalive” illustrates how online language quickly filters into offline spaces, from middle school classrooms to playgrounds, often boosted by memes. Aleksic notes: “Language and memes and metadata are one and the same, all of it shaping our vocabulary and identities.”
Fleeting words used by teens may sound like gibberish to adult ears, but they are still worthy of note even if they are merely trendy for a short amount of time, he argues. It helps us figure out who we are, what we are talking about and how we see ourselves — even if by the time you read this review, new words have come and gone.
Aleksic examines substitutions and coded phrases used online to bypass censorship, from PG-rated or silly alternatives to fruit emojis and dollar signs replacing letters.
This isn’t new. Teenagers have long softened words and code-switched in front of authority figures in everyday speech, but now these shifts are documented, amplified and collectively adopted online.
This chronically online generation uses the language to playfully and strategically avoid shadow banning or content removal — including in high-stakes contexts such as posts about the conflict in Gaza. It works.
This is not the death of language, Aleksic insists, but its evolution. Memes, emojis and subtle code words show how communities collectively and creatively innovate, creating words and phrases in real time while navigating the constraints of platforms. “Algospeak” reveals language as a living, evolving system, shaped by algorithms, culture and the people who use it.
