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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 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.
 

DENVER: A 16-year-old boy who had been radicalized by an “extremist network” fired a revolver multiple times during an attack at a suburban Denver high school that wounded two students, authorities said Thursday.
Some students ran and others locked down during Wednesday’s shooting at Evergreen High School in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. One of the victims was shot inside the school and another outside.
The suspect, fellow student Desmond Holly, shot himself at the school and later died, officials with the Jefferson County sheriff’s office said.
The school resource officer was on medical leave and two part-time officers who now share the job were not present at the time of the shooting, officials said. The officer working at the school that day had been sent earlier to a nearby accident.
Details on how Holly allegedly had been radicalized were not immediately released. They will be disclosed at a later date, sheriff’s office spokesperson Jacki Kelley said during a Thursday news conference.
It also remained unclear if Holly had any dispute with the victims or if they were shot randomly.
Kelley described a chaotic scene as students sheltered in place or fled.
“He would fire and reload, fire and reload, fire reload,” she said. “This went on and on, and as he did that he tried to find new targets.”
But Kelley said he was blocked by secured doors and couldn’t get into areas of the school where kids were sheltering. She added that Holly brought “quite a bit of ammunition” to the school.
“The reason we have so many crime scene areas inside is because we have windows shot out. We have lockers that were shot up. We’re finding spent rounds, unspent rounds. So it’s a huge area,” she said.
Investigators were searching the suspect’s room, his backpack and his locker as they try to unravel the shooting. They were also in contact with the suspect’s parents.
Kelley said authorities would be looking at whether the parents should face any criminal charges for allowing him access to the gun. Holly had ridden a bus to school Wednesday morning, she said.
The two victims remained in critical condition Thursday, Kelley said.
At the school, cars of students and staffers remained in the parking lot Thursday. Deputies stopped drivers from entering. A command post was set up outside and authorities could be seen coming and going from the school’s front entrance. The Colorado and US flags were still being flown at the top of flag poles.
Sila Reilly stopped by to lay flowers to honor those injured in the shooting. Not able to get very close, she secured several bouquets of white flowers on the top of fence post near the school’s baseball field.
“I’m tired of this being an everyday crisis,” said Reilly said, noting her son will soon be going to a high school much like Evergreen in another school district nearby.
Authorities have not provided further details about just where the shootings occurred on the 900-student campus or what the relationship was between the suspect and the two victims. The school is located about 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Denvre.
None of the law enforcement officers who responded to the shooting fired any shots, Kelley said. She said the officers found the shooter within five minutes of arriving.