What the Heck is Algospeak? What Mental Health Professionals need to know.

Conscious Mental Health

CW:://Mentioning words like suicide, sexual abuse, etc.
Welcome to a Shallow End episode, where we cover various mental health topics in short form, bite-sized format, all while retaining professional and educational rigor.

Have you heard of algospeak? Well, we hadn't either. Once we started looking into this, we ended up in a vortex of algorithms and mind control (ok, that's a little dramatic, but...). This discussion warrants attention, research, and awareness among mental health professionals and beyond due to the implications of how language shapes our awareness, understanding, and conceptions of serious concepts that are addressed in therapy.

Algo = algorithm

Social media users are commonly using algospeak, which is a code word used to avoid AI content moderation tools that flag user content for violating social media app rules or that might be sensitive or harmful.

Common Algospeak Words:

• Panini/panorama/pnoramic = pandemic
• Unalive = suicide/kill/murder
• Seggs/shmex - sex
• Corn or the emoji for corn = porn/adult industry
• Cornucopia = homophobia
• Leg Booty - member of LGBTQ community
• Le dollar bean = lesbian
• Accountant = sex worker
• S.A. =- sexual assault or sexual abuse
• Camping or going camping= abortion
• Ninja or the emoji = derogatory terms and hate speech towards the Black community
• Spicy eggplant = vibrator
• Swimmers = vaccinated people
• Yt = white people
• Saltines = white people
• Opposite of love = hate

Sources:

• Huyghe, S. (2022, April 27). Algospeak: a new language to circumvent AI-powered content moderation. MultiLingual Media LLC. https://multilingual.com/algospeak-a-new-language-to-circumvent-ai-powered-content-moderation/
• Pejcha, C. S. (2023, August 18). TikTok’s “mind-reading” algorithm is about to change. Document Journal. https://www.documentjournal.com/2023/08/tiktok-personalized-algorithm-opt-out-cognitive-liberty-dsa-neurotechnology/
• Schultz, S. (2021, October 5). Machine learning reveals role of culture in shaping meanings of words. Princeton Engineering. https://engineering.princeton.edu/news/2020/08/14/machine-learning-reveals-role-culture-shaping-meanings-words
• Steen, E., Yurechko, K., & Klug, D. (2023). You can (Not) say what you want: using Algospeak to contest and evade algorithmic content moderation on TikTok. Social Media and Society, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231194586
• Us, W. B. C. (2023, August 25). Social Media Algorithms Warp How People Learn from Each Other. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/social-media-algorithms-warp-how-people-learn-from-each-other/
• When algorithms become culture. (n.d.). Data & Society. https://datasociety.net/library/when-algorithms-become-culture/

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