algospeak

Algospeak is coded language people use online to avoid having their posts hidden or removed by platform algorithms. Instead of words they fear will be flagged, they use substitutes like “unalive” or misspellings.

What does algospeak mean?

Algospeak blends “algorithm” and “speak.” On apps like TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, creators worry that mentioning certain topics, such as death, violence, illness or politics, will get their content demoted or demonetized. So they talk around those words, often with euphemisms, emoji or deliberate misspellings that still make sense to viewers.

Common algospeak examples

Examples reported by The Washington Post include:

• unalive: dead, kill or suicide.
• panini or panda express: the pandemic.
• le dollar bean: “lesbian,” from how TikTok’s text-to-speech voice read the spelling “le$bian.”
• blink in lio: “link in bio.”

Many examples cover serious subjects, which is why algospeak is controversial: it can help people discuss hard topics, but it can also make them sound trivial.

How to use algospeak

• “She used algospeak in the caption so the video wouldn’t get flagged.”
• “Saying ‘unalive’ instead of ‘died’ is classic algospeak.”
• “The comments are full of algospeak, it’s like reading a code.”

Where algospeak comes from

Merriam-Webster says the word appears to have started circulating online in 2021. It reached a wide audience through a Washington Post article by Taylor Lorenz in April 2022, and linguist Adam Aleksic published a book titled Algospeak in 2025.

Related terms

• Shadowban: quietly limiting who sees your posts.
• Finsta: a secret second Instagram account.
• Brain rot: low-quality content and its effects.
• TL;DR: too long; didn’t read.

See more terms like this in our internet slang dictionary.