In 2026, digital culture is increasingly overwhelmed by artificial intelligence, internet slang and brain rot, also known as low-quality online media. Brain rot and internet slang allegedly facilitate mental decline, but what sounds like gibberish actually has meaning, signalling linguistic play and social learning.
Internet memes are spiralling into nonsense with an influx of uncanny AI-generated content, surreal viral trends and incoherent web-born expressions like “lowkenuinely.” In November 2025, the internet slang term “lowkenuinely” first emerged on TikTok as a modifier for expressing intense opinions or desires; “low-key” plus “genuinely” equals “lowkenuinely.” Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012) and Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) combine irony with sincerity, meshing random words together to create a formula for infinite online slang.
Surrounded by pixelated screens from birth, Gen Z and Gen Alpha are considered digital natives raised by the internet, smartphones and social media. Concerned parents stress over their children’s increased slang usage and degenerate vocabulary, blaming online platforms like TikTok and Instagram for turning their children into zombies. But perhaps the real culprit is the current political and economic state of the world.
“Language is always evolving,” said Ellie Homant, a Cornell Ph.D. candidate in communication focusing on social media and the creator economy. “People are trying to make sense of the world and cope with their place in it, and a lot of that is through humour and absurdity.”
Beyond just being a coping mechanism, generational preferences also strongly shape digital culture in the U.S. According to Pew Research Center, approximately 50% of 18 to 29-year-olds use TikTok at least once a day, compared to just 5% of adults aged 65 and over. Politics shapes social media habits too, with Democrats more likely than Republicans to use internet platforms such as WhatsApp, Reddit, TikTok, Bluesky and Threads.
“There are a lot of people who feel really disillusioned with the world right now. They feel disillusioned with capitalism and their unemployment,” Homant said. Younger, left-leaning users are more exposed and more likely to embrace brain-rot and nonsensical slang.
Slang is also used to bypass the prying eyes of algorithms and even other people. “Algospeak” is a term coined by Taylor Lorenz in 2022 to describe a social phenomenon where online users code their expressions to avoid the wrath of automatic content moderation.
“Creators who are marginalized and tend to be shadow-banned or are worried about algorithmic punishment demoting their visibility in the algorithm, they'll use Algospeak,” Homant said. “That is self-censorship, kind of, fundamentally.”
On the surface, internet slang terms like “lowkenuinely” may seem ridiculous, but they can actually hold weight, amplifying marginalized voices and championing linguistic play. “Finding some humour and joy in what are sometimes really difficult lived circumstances, I think, can be very empowering,” Homant said.
In-group vocabulary can transfer from online platforms into offline spaces as a way of signalling familiarity and shared knowledge. “Having internet memes function as an inside joke is really great for social communication. People that maybe have trouble initiating conversation can already be in on the joke just because they're on the internet,” said Tylar Aivazian, a 24-year-old graduate student at Ithaca College specializing in language speech pathology.
In 2024, a Preply survey concluded 94% of Americans use slang. However, 89% of Americans considered slang unprofessional, and 42% learned their slang from the internet or social media. While young Americans tend to use the most slang, 35% of Generation Z individuals also admitted to using a slang term without understanding what it means.
“It certainly could be confusing for the rules of language if we're constantly bending and breaking all the rules of language on the internet,” Aivazian said. New internet slang tends to prioritize emotional resonance over semantic precision, using hyperbole as a code for contemporary communication.
Luz Perez ’28, a sophomore studying psychology, reflects on her own use of the internet slang term 'lowkenuinely.' “It gave me a really big feeling,” she said. “I feel like exaggerated language has always been a thing.”
Perhaps absurdity has always been a feature of 21st century digital culture. “We have never seen the type of sociolinguistic changes that have come with the internet,” Aivazian said. “Words do have meaning to people who assign them meaning, which, in this case, would be the internet, or Gen Z, or Gen Alpha or whoever is in on the meme.”
Internet slang, though often dismissed as nonsensical or unprofessional, reflects the creative and adaptive ways in which younger generations navigate digital culture and social belonging. “It is still a development of language, whether or not you think it's silly or not, doesn't change the fact that it is happening,” Aivazian said. If you’re curious, “Ask your kids about it.”
Jasmin Sin is a junior exchange student from University College London studying English. She can be reached at cs2589@cornell.edu.
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