{"id":41217,"date":"2025-12-07T07:15:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T15:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=41217"},"modified":"2025-12-07T21:17:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T05:17:24","slug":"2025s-words-of-the-year-reflect-a-year-of-digital-disillusionment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/2025s-words-of-the-year-reflect-a-year-of-digital-disillusionment\/","title":{"rendered":"2025\u2019s words of the year reflect a year of digital disillusionment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Roger J. Kreuz<\/a>, University of Memphis<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which terms best represent 2025?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every year, editors for publications ranging from the Oxford English Dictionary to the Macquarie Dictionary of Australian English select a \u201cword of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes these terms are thematically related, particularly in the wake of world-altering events. \u201cPandemic,\u201d \u201clockdown\u201d and \u201ccoronavirus,\u201d for example, were among the words chosen in 2020<\/a>. At other times, they are a potpourri of various cultural trends, as with 2022\u2019s \u201cgoblin mode<\/a>,\u201d \u201cpermacrisis<\/a>\u201d and \u201cgaslighting<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s slate largely centers on digital life. But rather than reflecting the unbridled optimism about the internet of the early aughts \u2013 when words like \u201cw00t<\/a>,\u201d \u201cblog<\/a>,\u201d \u201ctweet<\/a>\u201d and even \u201cface with tears of joy<\/a>\u201d emoji (????) were chosen \u2013 this year\u2019s selections reflect a growing unease over how the internet has become a hotbed of artifice, manipulation and fake relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When seeing isn\u2019t believing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A committee representing the Macquarie Dictionary of Australian English settled on \u201cAI slop\u201d for their word of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Macquarie defines the term<\/a>, which was popularized in 2024 by British programmer Simon Willison<\/a> and tech journalist Casey Newton<\/a>, as \u201clow-quality content created by generative AI, often containing errors, and not requested by the user.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI slop \u2013 which can range from a saccharine image of a young girl clinging to her little dog<\/a> to career advice on LinkedIn<\/a> \u2013 often goes viral, as gullible social media users share these computer-generated videos, text and graphics with others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Images have been manipulated or altered since the dawn of photography<\/a>. The technique was then improved, with an assist from AI, to create \u201cdeepfakes,\u201d which allows existing images to be turned into video clips in surreal ways. Yes, you can now watch Hitler teaming up with Stalin<\/a> to sing a 1970s hit by The Buggles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes AI slop different is that images or video can be created out of whole cloth by providing a chatbot with just a prompt \u2013 no matter how bizarre<\/a> the request or ensuing output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meet my new friend, ChatGPT<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The editors of the Cambridge Dictionary chose \u201cparasocial<\/a>.\u201d They define this as \u201cinvolving or relating to a connection that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they do not know<\/a>, a character in a book, film, TV series \u2026 or an artificial intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These asymmetric relationships, according to the dictionary\u2019s chief editor<\/a>, are the result of \u201cthe public\u2019s fascination with celebrities and their lifestyles,\u201d and this interest \u201ccontinues to reach new heights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an example, Cambridge\u2019s announcement cited the engagement of singer Taylor Swift and football player Travis Kelce<\/a>, which led to a spike in online searches for the meaning of the term. Many Swifties reacted with unbridled joy<\/a>, as if their best friend or sibling had just decided to tie the knot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the term isn\u2019t a new one: It was coined by sociologists<\/a> in 1956 to describe \u201cthe illusion\u201d of having \u201ca face-to-face relationship\u201d with a performer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, parasocial relationships can take a bizarre or even ominous turn when the object of one\u2019s affections is a chatbot. People are developing true feelings for these AI systems, whether they see them as a trusted friend<\/a> or even a romantic partner<\/a>. Young people<\/a>, in particular, are now turning to generative AI for therapy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking the bait<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Oxford Dictionary\u2019s word of the year is \u201crage bait,\u201d which the editors define<\/a> as \u201conline content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative, or offensive, typically posted in order to increase traffic to or engagement with a particular web page or social media content.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is only the latest word for forms of emotional manipulation that have plagued the online world since the days of dial-up internet. Related terms include trolling, sealioning<\/a> and trashposting<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike a hot take \u2013 a hasty opinion on a topic that may be poorly reasoned or articulated \u2013 rage baiting is intended to be inflammatory. And it can be seen as both a cause and a result of political polarization<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People who post rage bait have been shown to lack empathy<\/a> and to regard other people\u2019s emotions as something to be exploited or even monetized. Rage baiters, in short, reflect the dark side of the attention economy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Glitchy
Rage baiters have little concern for the people whose emotions they exploit for attention or profit. yamonstro\/iStock via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Meaningless meaning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the most contentious choice in 2025 was \u201c6-7,\u201d chosen by Dictionary.com. In this case, the controversy has to do with the actual meaning<\/a> of this bit of Gen Alpha slang. The editors of the website describe it<\/a> as being \u201cmeaningless, ubiquitous, and nonsensical.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although its definition may be slippery, the term itself can be found in the lyrics of the rapper Skrilla, who released the single \u201cDoot Doot (6 7)<\/a>\u201d in early 2025. It was popularized by 17-year-old basketball standout Taylen Kinney<\/a>. For his part, Skrilla claimed<\/a> that he \u201cnever put an actual meaning on it, and I still would not want to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c6-7\u201d is sometimes accompanied by a gesture, as if one were comparing the weight of objects held in both hands. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently performed<\/a> this hand motion during a school visit. The young students were delighted. Their teacher, however, informed Starmer that her charges weren\u2019t allowed to use it at the school, which prompted a clumsy apology from the chastened prime minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throw your hands in the air?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The common element that these words share may be an attitude best described as digital nihilism<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As online misinformation, AI-generated text and images, fake news and conspiracy theories abound, it\u2019s increasingly difficult to know whom or what to believe or trust. Digital nihilism is, in essence, an acknowledgment of a lack of meaning and certainty in our online interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s crop of words might best be summed up by a single emoji: the shrug (????). Throwing one\u2019s hands up, in resignation or indifference, captures the anarchy that seems to characterize our digital lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roger J. Kreuz<\/a>, Associate Dean and Feinstone Interdisciplinary Research Professor\u200b, University of Memphis<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Roger J. Kreuz, University of Memphis Which terms best represent 2025? Every year, editors for publications ranging from the Oxford English Dictionary to the Macquarie Dictionary of Australian English select a \u201cword of the year.\u201d Sometimes these terms are thematically related, particularly in the wake of world-altering events. \u201cPandemic,\u201d \u201clockdown\u201d and \u201ccoronavirus,\u201d for example, were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":41218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,7,291,10,25,36,28,38,8],"tags":[310,16075,10656,885,891,886,860,17218,11858,12946,14742,5941,3171],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41217"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41217"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41219,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41217\/revisions\/41219"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}