Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This book does provide some clarification as to why I feel detached from today’s language. I didn’t give more stars because it provides a lot of information, but too much was from the standpoint of how influencers can beat the algorithm and gain likes. While that is critical to understanding the why and how of our changing language, at times it was more a how-to than an examination of linguistics. While I don’t necessarily agree with some of the author’s viewpoints, it opened up an internal conversation of today’s fast-growing cultural shifts.

Halfway through this book, quite coincidentally I listened to a podcast discussing another book, The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. I haven’t read that book yet, but the podcast touched on some of the same subjects with a different viewpoint. A great example is the use of the word “unalive” versus dead. Is the usage to shield, or is the shield causing fragility? I’m not sure changing the word softens the actual meaning, and perhaps facing truth and reality is needed for maturation.

Another example is the recent trend of uptalk. I’ve noticed it especially among young women, making each sentence sound like a question. The author explained uptalk as part of today’s on-line culture wherein creators use this way of speaking to constantly seek your opinion thereby keeping you interested and engaged. Perhaps next time I hear uptalk from an intelligent or highly educated woman, I’ll change my perception that they don’t possess enough self-confidence to believe in themselves and their opinion.

Most disturbing to me is the “inadvertent” normalization of extreme behaviors resulting in us versus them conditions. To be an influencer, you need to keep the algorithm happy. In the fight for views and likes, the audience is led to believe extremes are more normal than they are, and each side goes further down the rabbit hole to be the most extreme us with the furthest distance from them. The author indicates that it’s harder for elite powers to set the agenda by manufacturing consent through traditional media. I don’t agree that the algorithm is the ultimate equalizer as it is biased, but I do agree with the author when he says, “Our brains have been hijacked.”

https://candysplanet.wordpress.com/

In "Algospeak," Adam Aleksic brilliantly connects our digital linguistic present with the timeless evolution of language. As both a linguist and social media creator, he offers unique insights into how algorithms are reshaping communication.

What makes this book exceptional is how Aleksic explains complex phenomena—from "brainrot" memes to content moderation workarounds like "unalive"—with scholarly depth yet accessible clarity. His passion for language is evident as he unpacks how users creatively adapt to algorithmic constraints.

The research is impressive, combining original surveys with internet archival analysis to document this unprecedented linguistic shift. Yet despite its academic foundation, the writing remains engaging and witty throughout.

"Algospeak" ultimately serves as both a celebration of human linguistic ingenuity and a thoughtful examination of how our words are being shaped by invisible algorithmic forces—a timely, fascinating read for anyone interested in how we communicate today.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5 stars)

A must-read for language lovers navigating the digital age.

As someone who has always been fascinated by etymology, Algospeak by Adam Aleksic was an absolute treat. It’s smart, timely, and utterly absorbing—a deep dive into how language is evolving in real-time, shaped by algorithms, censorship, internet culture, and the human instinct to adapt and be understood.

Aleksic strikes a perfect balance between academic insight and pop-cultural relevance. Whether he’s unpacking TikTok slang, decoding euphemisms born from moderation filters, or tracing how new digital dialects echo older linguistic trends, he does it with clarity, wit, and genuine enthusiasm. It’s clear he loves language, and that passion is infectious on every page.

What I found especially compelling was how Algospeak explores the tension between control and creativity, how platforms try to police speech through algorithms, and how users respond by inventing entirely new vocabularies to sneak past them. It’s a reminder that language is not static, and it never has been; it bends and shifts with us, often in ingenious ways.

Whether you’re a linguist, a content creator, or just someone who enjoys thinking about why we say things the way we do, this book offers a fresh and fascinating perspective. It’s both a celebration of human ingenuity and a quietly provocative look at the future of communication.

Highly recommend for fellow word nerds and digital culture enthusiasts alike!

A great book about the power of linguistics in the age of internet algorithms. The author does a great job of breaking down each chapter with how linguistics plays such a huge part in shaping our understanding and the importance of language and internet slang/lingo. He talks about internet censorship and how each generation creates their own code language. Well written and entertaining. Such an unexpected surprise.

This is really an impressive book because of its deep knowledge of what is going on in language today and its ability to connect it to the past effectively. The author obviously comes from a deep knowledge of language and linguistics, and yet he also has an incredible facility with modern usage. By bridging the history of human language, he’s able to effectively put the strange ways in which language is developing in the age of AI and algorithms into proper perspective.

I found the thoughtful analysis throughout the book to be satisfying and fascinating, having learned new things about the history of human language, as well as getting an in-depth understanding of how technology is having an outsized impact on the way that we communicate these days, whether it is to optimize or to attempt to avoid restrictions put in place by various authorities. It’s fascinating to see how language will always find a way and it was thrilling to learn so much that subject in this exceptional book.

thanks to NetGalley for the eARC

⭐️=4.75 | 😘=3.5 | 🤬=4.5 | ⚔️=2 | 17+

summary: etymologynerd talks about how the internet, especially TikTok censorship, has changed language

thoughts: fascinating! loved this—exactly my type of deep dive into internet history linguistic nerdiness. etymology nerd you will ALWAYS be famous

I am a sucker for linguistics and TikTok/Reddit. I could NOT put this one down. I learned about the use of different words from younger generations, the origin of certain words, and even how we are losing the origins of certain words as they get gentrified.

The second half of the book really dove into the social aspects of the origin of certain words and how they are currently used, and some of the issues surrounding it which I found most interesting and was all new information to me.

Internet nerds, rejoice! ALGOSPEAK is, without a doubt, one of the most fascinating nonfiction reads of 2025. From cottagecore aesthetics and brainrot to “unalive” making the leap into everyday language, the internet’s influence on how we speak is impossible to ignore.

Viral linguist Adam Aleksic dives deep into how algorithms and social media are reshaping our lexicon—and, in turn, the way we connect, create, and communicate.

Algospeak is a must read for anyone who is chronically online, a fan of languages, or is desperately trying to understand Gen Alpha brain rot. A master of hooking in his audience, Adam Aleksic writes this debut book as if books had been his platform of choice for his whole career. The book is informative, funny, and utterly addicting! His analysis of how alogrithms have influenced language (and how they in turn have influenced us) will shift the way you consume social media, resulting in you paying more attention to the ways we "borrow" language from different groups (notably the Black and LGBT+ communities) and redefine ourselves based on evermore specific classifications (from cottage-core to dark academia) to help feed the metadata loop. Most surprisingly is the way Aleksic is able to connect our seemingly "new age" online brain rot to trends and phenomena that have spanned human history.

A five star read, through and through.

Thank you to Net Galley for this advance copy.

This book is exactly at the intersection of my interests (linguistics, language change, the internet, pop culture, etc.) so I’m not surprised that I really liked it! I did think that at times the topics wandered a little too much, some chapters were less linguistic focused, but overall all the chapters were engaging. This will also be a fun time capsule of internet slang as it exists right now. Recommend if you want an accessible book about language topics (if you liked things like Wordslut and Because Internet).
Thanks to NetGalley for this arc!