Algospeak: The new language created by TikTok and studied by Harvard

At the epicenter of contemporary cultural change, where codes are being rewritten as quickly as a finger swipes across a screen, traditional linguistics is confronting an unprecedented phenomenon: algospeak. This new register, born in the bowels of TikTok, is being studied by Harvard linguist Adam Aleksic—known as @etymologynerd—who analyzes how algorithms are shaping, accelerating, and distorting the evolution of language.

Algospeak isn’t simply a passing slang term: it’s a linguistic system that operates under the unwritten rules of algorithmic moderation. Words like unalive (suicide), seggs (sex), corn (porn), lebanese (lesbian), or expressions like skibidi, sigma, and looks-maxxing are examples of a collective cryptography designed to circumvent the automated sanctions of platforms like Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook. A digital dialect born on the margins, but quickly absorbed into the center of youth discourse and, increasingly, into mainstream pop culture.

Each generation has produced its own informal language, but Algospeak is unique. Unlike the slang of the 2000s or the viral regionalisms that defined previous eras, this new lexicon doesn’t arise solely from a desire for belonging or creativity, but as an act of survival in the face of a digital infrastructure that censors, erases, or silences certain discourses. Aleksic sums it up accurately: today’s language no longer evolves despite the algorithm, but rather through it.

According to the researcher, this constant mutation has created a linguistic ecosystem in which words lose their cultural anchor almost instantly: they are born as niche codes and, within days, are transformed into massive hashtags, devoid of their original meaning. This acceleration—driven by the logic of visibility and virality—not only transforms the way young people communicate, but also the way they interpret the world around them.

The paradox, however, lies in the expansion of this code beyond its original context. Conceived as an internal adaptive strategy for TikTok, algospeak has begun to migrate to other platforms, and even into everyday offline language. On X (formerly Twitter), users are denouncing its inappropriate use on a network that, ironically, allows explicit content without restrictions. On Instagram and Facebook, however, this code takes on a political dimension: in contexts where mentioning Palestine or openly discussing war can lead to demonetization or silencing, expressions like p4l3s+in3 or unsewer slide become tools of digital resistance.

For Aleksic, the phenomenon is not merely anecdotal: it reflects how sociopolitical tensions, digital censorship, and generational anxieties seep into the very structure of language. If in the past linguistics could map the evolution of a language over decades, today it must keep pace with a perpetual scroll. “Not all moments of linguistic upheaval are negative,” he argues in his book. “Some are promoting new forms of creativity, resistance, and community.”

Algospeak is, ultimately, a mirror of its times: hyperconnected, hyper-monitored, and constantly fleeing the silence imposed by automated systems. Far from being a simple generational whim, it is emerging as a profound mutation of language, where every word is a political, cultural, and algorithmic performance.

Is linguistics, then, facing its greatest transformation in the digital age? Everything points to yes.

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