Post

Our language has been completely warped by Big Tech's algorithms, from a generation that's grown up saying "unalive", to the way everyone's censored themselves talking about the Cornell rapists. It's time to fight back against billionaire control of free speech. www.anildash.com/2026/10/06/k...

anildash.comWe are going to kill “unalive” - Anil DashA blog about making culture. Since 1999.

Gretchen Woods

@gwoods.bsky.social

Um, your timing is waaaay off. This started way before TikTok and algorithms. We’ve been having to censor our online speech since the 1990s, thanks to porn filters on early corporate internet and email.

Anil Dash

@anildash.com

As I've said on here, it absolutely started way before TikTok, which I've written about many times. The use of "unalive" is a TikTok-era phenomenon.

7/10/26, 2:52 am0 reposts5 likes

Anil Dash

@anildash.com

But always a big fan of the condescending "um", cheers for that

Gretchen Woods

@gwoods.bsky.social

Someday we’ll develop a sarcasm font.

HorribleRobot

@okayrobot.bsky.social

It’s not really a phenomenon though, is it? People asked for more moderation, they got more moderation but the side effect was more demonetization. The soft language isn’t a sign of a soft generation, it’s a loophole so people could keep getting their paychecks.