Algospeak

 

Algospeak is a well written monograph on how much influence (much of which most of us are unaware) social media and online presence has on modern life, written by self-styled word nerd Adam Aleksic. Released 15th July 2025 by Knopf, it's 256 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. 

Admittedly niche, this is nevertheless a fascinating deep dive into the metrics which drive daily life and control to a surprisingly large degree what we see and hear on social media, how successful (or unsuccessful) media influencers are, and to an increasing degree how we experience our lives. The author has a humorous narrative voice, but there are a lot of interesting, and fairly profound, bits of information relayed between lighthearted banter. He uses academic nomenclature and concepts, but despite being linguistically accurate, it's never dry and it is quite fascinating. The chapter notes are well annotated and extensive and for interested readers, are probably worth the price of admission.

He discusses linguistic drift, how groups co-opt language to suit purpose (as it ever has been and ever will be), what the future might hold, and what we can do to influence it in a positive way. 

Four stars. Fascinating. It would be an excellent choice for public or post-secondary school library, for home use, or for book club analysis. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.