Do You Speak Internet?
Years ago, I remember a friend talking disdainfully about someone. “Can you believe she said LOL in real life instead of laughing?” It’s 2025 and yes, I can believe it. Not just for a person we describe as eccentric but for myself too.
If you maintain an online presence on any social media platform, chances are you have probably found yourself thinking of captions in ‘internet speak’. A language or a set of words we know an avid consumer of content online would understand – in fact, a language that maybe ONLY they would understand.
The internet is filled with videos of celebrities quizzed on their ‘Gen Z vocabulary’. However, the vocabulary they refer to – is it Gen Z speak or is it internet speak? A language that only a ‘chronically online’ person speaks or understands.
When we describe an outfit as ‘a slay!’ online, everyone understands it to mean that it is a gorgeous outfit.
Dictionaries
might take a second to accept
the implied meaning, but if the
internet has decided a word
means something, it means
exactly that. With the volume
of content, memes, videos
and podcasts where that word
is used – its absence in a
dictionary hinders nothing.
Sometimes, the word
doesn’t even have to mean
anything. Take ‘skibidi,’ a word
all Millennials fear. No one
knows what it means but what
if someone asks if you know
what it means? According
to the Urban Dictionary (an
online dictionary that tackles
internet slang), skibidi has no
inherent meaning. It can be
a nonsensical conversation
starter or an adjective,
depending on how it’s used.
What then does this mean
for artists, writers and business
owners who want to put their
work on social media? Do they
find their original expressions lost
in the sea of similar-sounding
captions or do they stand firm
on a vocabulary not influenced
by the internet and hope their
community will still find them?
“The way you are supposed
to present your work as an artist
in the art world is a little formal,”
says Shanzay Subzwari, a
visual artist and art educator in
Karachi. “This is how it retains
its value and let’s say, its price.”
Subzwari feels her work,
although shared on social
media, doesn’t actively seek
an online audience and can
therefore be exhibited without
resorting to internet speak.
“The artwork I make is the kind
that sells in art galleries and
museums – all of which are
frequented by an affluent older
crowd that is not very internet
savvy anyway.”
However, what if the success of your business depends on the number of people it reaches on social media?
Restaurants that
want to present themselves
as fine dining establishments
find themselves trying to
cope with the ever-increasing
demands of the social media
algorithm. Marya Khuhawar,
who owns a cafe in Karachi
called Marya’s Café, says,
“There is pressure to stay
relevant. Even when choosing
who to hire for social media
marketing, I have to consider
their knowledge of internet
speak. You can’t stay in your
bubble and ignore
what is trending.”
Perhaps small businesses
and restaurants have had to
adapt the most to internet
speak. Scrolling through the
Instagram feeds of different
restaurants, you would be
hard-pressed to find one that
has not used a ‘symphony
of flavours’ to describe their
food. Did different social media
managers use the same
phrase coincidentally or is
this an example of internet
speak taking control over one’s
original expression, making
everyone sound exactly
the same?
The use of AI tools like
ChatGPT has not made it better.
One of the more obvious signs
that something has been written
using AI is when it features
repetitive words or phrases.
In the context of social media
content, this could mean that even more of what people
express there will sound the
same if reliance on AI grows.
One might ask if it is really
a bad thing that everyone is
using the same exact phrases
to describe different situations.
Saying “I am shook” instead of “I
am surprised” or “taken aback”
or “flustered.” It does make the
canvas of our world sound a little
less colourful and imaginative.
Some writers, artists and
people who don’t directly rely on
the internet seem to agree and
are resisting the ‘sameness of
online language.’
“I am not writing to appeal to
a mass audience,” says Atiya
Abbas, a communications
specialist. “When I started
using the internet, I was all for
being nonchalant about what
I say online but now I take it
seriously.” Abbas says her focus
is on communicating effectively
instead of worrying about her
message reaching a certain
number of people on social
media. Like Subzwari, she
feels that sticking to her own
expressions will help find people
who resonate with it.
As Abbas says, “If my
vocabulary or my words seem
really big to you, go look them
up in a dictionary.” It may be a
case of just that.
Riffat Rashid is a food writer and a
digital content creator behind the
blog, GirlGottaEat.
girlgottaeat17@gmail.com
Dictionaries might take a second to accept the implied meaning, but if the internet has decided a word means something, it means exactly that. With the volume of content, memes, videos and podcasts where that word is used – its absence in a dictionary hinders nothing.
Sometimes, the word doesn’t even have to mean anything. Take ‘skibidi,’ a word all Millennials fear. No one knows what it means but what if someone asks if you know what it means? According to the Urban Dictionary (an online dictionary that tackles internet slang), skibidi has no inherent meaning. It can be a nonsensical conversation starter or an adjective, depending on how it’s used.
What then does this mean for artists, writers and business owners who want to put their work on social media? Do they find their original expressions lost in the sea of similar-sounding captions or do they stand firm on a vocabulary not influenced by the internet and hope their community will still find them?
“The way you are supposed to present your work as an artist in the art world is a little formal,” says Shanzay Subzwari, a visual artist and art educator in Karachi. “This is how it retains its value and let’s say, its price.”
Subzwari feels her work, although shared on social media, doesn’t actively seek an online audience and can therefore be exhibited without resorting to internet speak. “The artwork I make is the kind that sells in art galleries and museums – all of which are frequented by an affluent older crowd that is not very internet savvy anyway.”
However, what if the success of your business depends on the number of people it reaches on social media?
Restaurants that
want to present themselves
as fine dining establishments
find themselves trying to
cope with the ever-increasing
demands of the social media
algorithm. Marya Khuhawar,
who owns a cafe in Karachi
called Marya’s Café, says,
“There is pressure to stay
relevant. Even when choosing
who to hire for social media
marketing, I have to consider
their knowledge of internet
speak. You can’t stay in your
bubble and ignore
what is trending.”
Perhaps small businesses
and restaurants have had to
adapt the most to internet
speak. Scrolling through the
Instagram feeds of different
restaurants, you would be
hard-pressed to find one that
has not used a ‘symphony
of flavours’ to describe their
food. Did different social media
managers use the same
phrase coincidentally or is
this an example of internet
speak taking control over one’s
original expression, making
everyone sound exactly
the same?
The use of AI tools like
ChatGPT has not made it better.
One of the more obvious signs
that something has been written
using AI is when it features
repetitive words or phrases.
In the context of social media
content, this could mean that even more of what people
express there will sound the
same if reliance on AI grows.
One might ask if it is really
a bad thing that everyone is
using the same exact phrases
to describe different situations.
Saying “I am shook” instead of “I
am surprised” or “taken aback”
or “flustered.” It does make the
canvas of our world sound a little
less colourful and imaginative.
Some writers, artists and
people who don’t directly rely on
the internet seem to agree and
are resisting the ‘sameness of
online language.’
“I am not writing to appeal to
a mass audience,” says Atiya
Abbas, a communications
specialist. “When I started
using the internet, I was all for
being nonchalant about what
I say online but now I take it
seriously.” Abbas says her focus
is on communicating effectively
instead of worrying about her
message reaching a certain
number of people on social
media. Like Subzwari, she
feels that sticking to her own
expressions will help find people
who resonate with it.
As Abbas says, “If my
vocabulary or my words seem
really big to you, go look them
up in a dictionary.” It may be a
case of just that.
Riffat Rashid is a food writer and a
digital content creator behind the
blog, GirlGottaEat.
girlgottaeat17@gmail.com
Restaurants that
want to present themselves
as fine dining establishments
find themselves trying to
cope with the ever-increasing
demands of the social media
algorithm. Marya Khuhawar,
who owns a cafe in Karachi
called Marya’s Café, says,
“There is pressure to stay
relevant. Even when choosing
who to hire for social media
marketing, I have to consider
their knowledge of internet
speak. You can’t stay in your
bubble and ignore
what is trending.”
Perhaps small businesses
and restaurants have had to
adapt the most to internet
speak. Scrolling through the
Instagram feeds of different
restaurants, you would be
hard-pressed to find one that
has not used a ‘symphony
of flavours’ to describe their
food. Did different social media
managers use the same
phrase coincidentally or is
this an example of internet
speak taking control over one’s
original expression, making
everyone sound exactly
the same?
The use of AI tools like ChatGPT has not made it better. One of the more obvious signs that something has been written using AI is when it features repetitive words or phrases. In the context of social media content, this could mean that even more of what people express there will sound the same if reliance on AI grows.
One might ask if it is really a bad thing that everyone is using the same exact phrases to describe different situations. Saying “I am shook” instead of “I am surprised” or “taken aback” or “flustered.” It does make the canvas of our world sound a little less colourful and imaginative.
Some writers, artists and people who don’t directly rely on the internet seem to agree and are resisting the ‘sameness of online language.’
“I am not writing to appeal to a mass audience,” says Atiya Abbas, a communications specialist. “When I started using the internet, I was all for being nonchalant about what I say online but now I take it seriously.” Abbas says her focus is on communicating effectively instead of worrying about her message reaching a certain number of people on social media. Like Subzwari, she feels that sticking to her own expressions will help find people who resonate with it.
As Abbas says, “If my vocabulary or my words seem really big to you, go look them up in a dictionary.” It may be a case of just that.
Riffat Rashid is a food writer and a
digital content creator behind the
blog, GirlGottaEat.
girlgottaeat17@gmail.com
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