Internet slang is the vocabulary of life online: the words people use for arguments on social media, habits they’re a bit embarrassed about, and the way algorithms shape what we see. This guide explains the most common terms in plain English, with a full entry for each.

Living online

• Chronically online: so immersed in internet culture that your views or jokes seem out of touch with everyday life.
• Touch grass: go outside and reconnect with the real world.
• Doomscrolling: compulsively scrolling through bad news.
• Brain rot: the foggy feeling from too much low-quality content, or the content itself.
• Parasocial relationship: a one-sided bond with a celebrity or creator who doesn’t know you exist.

Arguments and drama

• Ratio: when replies to a post vastly outnumber its likes, a sign most people disagree.
• Subtweet: a post about someone that doesn’t name or tag them.
• Main character: the person everyone online is talking about today, or someone acting like the star of their own movie.
• Main character syndrome: believing your life is a story and everyone else is a supporting role.
• Rage bait: content designed to make you angry so you engage with it.
• Copium: the imaginary “drug” people take to cope with a loss or disappointment.
• Hopium: unrealistic optimism.

Platforms and algorithms

• Shadowban: when a platform quietly limits who sees your posts without telling you.
• Algospeak: code words people use to avoid being filtered by algorithms, like “unalive.”
• Finsta: a secret second Instagram account for close friends.
• Face reveal: when a creator shows their face for the first time.
• Doom posting: posting gloomy, everything-is-terrible content.

Memes that became words

• Canon event: an experience, often painful, that feels like a necessary part of your story.
• NPC: someone who seems to act on autopilot, like a background character in a video game.

Takes, trolls and outrage

• Hot take: a fast, provocative opinion. A cold take is one nobody would argue with.
• Rage farming: provoking people again and again so their anger boosts your reach.
• Troll: someone who posts to provoke a reaction.
• Shitpost: a deliberately low-effort or absurd post.
• Cancel culture: publicly withdrawing support from someone. Debated hard.
• Karen: a stereotype of an entitled woman who demands the manager.
• OK boomer: a sarcastic brush-off for an out-of-touch opinion.

Memes, posts and fandom

• Copypasta: text copied and pasted around as a joke.
• Photo dump: a casual batch of camera-roll photos in one post.
• Ship: to want two people, real or fictional, to get together.
• OTP: one true pairing, a fan’s favorite couple.
• Oof: a wince of sympathy or second-hand embarrassment.

Why internet slang changes so fast

Most of these words started as in-jokes on one platform, such as Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, Twitch or TikTok, before spreading everywhere. Some stick around for years (shadowban is believed to date back to early-2000s forums), while others flare up for a few months and fade. When a word gets used by brands and parents, it’s often a sign the original crowd is moving on.

Looking for short forms like fr, smh or iykyk? See our texting abbreviations guide. For spoken slang, try the Gen Z slang dictionary or the full A–Z index.