Podcast Summary: How Algorithms are Changing the Way We Speak

Podcast: The Indicator from Planet Money (NPR)
Episode Date: August 19, 2025
Host: Adrian Ma
Guest: Adam Aleksic, Linguist & Author of Algo Speak: How Social Media is Transforming the Future of Language

Overview:

In this episode, Adrian Ma discusses with linguist Adam Aleksic how algorithms and social media platforms have become powerful forces in shaping modern language. Through viral memes, word trends, and even the rhythms of our speech, the business and technical priorities of social media platforms are affecting the way we communicate, both online and offline. Aleksic’s insights, drawn from his recently published book, are used to explore how words are born, spread, and sometimes die in today’s algorithm-driven media landscape.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

How Algorithms Accelerate Language Change

• Algorithms as a New Inflection Point (03:00–04:12):
  Adam Aleksic explains that, much like the invention of writing or the printing press, algorithms are now a major force in language evolution.

  • “Every time there's a new medium, we're going to have a new way of communicating through that medium... now algorithms are an underlying infrastructure of the Internet and the way we mass communicate.” — Adam Aleksic [03:24]
  • Example: The rise of “unalive” as a euphemism for “kill” on TikTok due to content moderation, leading to usage even in school essays.

• Viral Spread and the ‘Engagement Treadmill’ (04:12–04:43):

  • Words like “riz,” which started on Twitch in 2022, became global within a year, aided by the amplification power of algorithms.
  • “Because of how algorithms amplify trends... these words get pushed further and the word riz entered what I call the engagement treadmill.” — Adam Aleksic [04:15]

Gatekeeping, Context Collapse, and Memes

• Loss of Traditional Grammatical Gatekeeping (04:43–05:33):

  • Algorithms drive rapid adoption and spread of slang across diverse groups, erasing prior cultural and social boundaries.
  • Words like "pilled," "maxing," or "sigma" spread rapidly, often outside their original communities.
  • “There's also no policing function... Once you get this video from a different context, you don't even think it is from African American English in the first place.” — Adam Aleksic [04:52]

• Words as Memes: Why Some Stick and Others Die Out (06:20–07:20):

  • Words like “cancel” fill enduring semantic gaps—so they survive—while others, like “skibidi,” are fleeting trends that fade as they spread beyond their core users.
  • “An important thing to remember is that words are memes and they get tied to meme lifespans.” — Adam Aleksic [06:41]
  • “If your Grandmother starts saying skibidi. Skibidi is gonna die out. I'm a strong believer that in about a year, skibidi is gonna be out.” — Adam Aleksic [06:52]

Social Media’s Impact on Speech and Accent

• Influencer Accent and Pacing (07:20–08:57):

  • The desire to maintain attention—driven by algorithmic incentives—shapes not just language but also delivery: faster talking, strategic pacing, and heightened intonation.
  • “Online...everybody's trying to sell you attention all the time because the platforms bake in attention incentives...So creators replicate that because we're just trying to earn a living.” — Adam Aleksic [07:56]
  • “One of them is the [influencer] accent. The I'll talk faster and I'll stress more words. That's my educational influencer accent.” — Adam Aleksic [08:17]
  • Adrián Ma jokes about Aleksic’s fast pace: “Now, in case you're wondering, you have not accidentally hit double speed on your podcast player. This is how Adam talks in his videos…” [02:45]

• Content Democratization vs. Linguistic Flattening (08:57–09:32):

  • Social media elevates more voices but flattens variance—platform incentives push creators to conform to specific, optimized styles.
  • “It does, like you said, elevate more voices in the way that we haven't had before, but at the same time, it prevents those voices from being heard unless they conform to platform incentives.” — Adam Aleksic [09:24]

Cultural Implications & Neutrality Toward Change

• Not All Influence is Negative (09:32–10:07):
  • Aleksic cautions against viewing these changes as inherently good or bad for language.
  • “I don't think there's anything ever wrong with language per se. Language is a way that humans relate to one another. I think language is a proxy for culture....the way we're communicating with one another is just again, us reflexively adapting to a medium to be heard. And I don't think that's actually bad.” — Adam Aleksic [09:44]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Emojis and Uniqueness:
  “Fun fact, Everybody has a completely unique emoji style, kind of like an emoji fingerprint. Which also means that no two people will use emojis the exact same way.” — Adam Aleksic [02:27]

• On the Influence of Meme Popularity:
  “Words are memes and they get tied to meme lifespans. And if there's no natural reason to keep the meme around, it dies.” — Adam Aleksic [06:41]

• On The Rise (and Fall) of ‘Skibidi’:
  “If your Grandmother starts saying skibidi. Skibidi is gonna die out. I'm a strong believer that in about a year, skibidi is gonna be out.” — Adam Aleksic [06:52]

• On Algorithms’ Role in Linguistic Flattening:
  “...it prevents those voices from being heard unless they conform to platform incentives.” — Adam Aleksic [09:24]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:00–04:12: How algorithms are the latest historical driver of language change.
• 04:12–04:43: The rise of “riz” and how algorithmic promotion accelerates word trends.
• 04:43–05:33: Loss of gatekeeping, context collapse, and the blurring of origins in viral language.
• 06:20–07:20: Why some words (like “skibidi”) die quickly while others (like “cancel”) last.
• 07:20–08:57: How attention economics shapes the “influencer accent” and online delivery.
• 09:24–09:44: The double-edged sword of democratized language change.

Conclusion

This episode offers an insightful and fast-paced tour of the new dynamics shaping English. Adam Aleksic compellingly argues that while language evolution is nothing new, algorithms and social media have hypercharged the process, giving rise to both more diversity in the words we use and, paradoxically, a flattening of how we speak as creators adapt for virality. His neutral, anthropology-style lens encourages listeners to see these changes less as a threat to language than as a reflection of new cultural and technological realities.

Book Mentioned: Algo Speak by Adam Aleksic
Guest Social Handle: @EtymologyNerd

Podcast Production Credits:

• Producer: Julia Ritchie
• Engineer: Kwesi Lee
• Fact-checker: Sierra Juarez
• Editor: Cake and Kenan
• A production of NPR