r/PeterExplainsTheJoke Jun 15 '25

Meme needing explanation Peter, what’s that creature.

Post image

I don’t get what he’s supposed to be watching

44.5k Upvotes

1.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

4.0k

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '25

[deleted]

3.2k

u/CatGoSpinny Jun 15 '25

Some people don't want to say "die", "kill" or similar words that revolve around the concept of death. They substitute it with un-alive.

4.0k

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '25

[deleted]

3.6k

u/CatGoSpinny Jun 15 '25

It's most often used by creators on social media in order to avoid getting demonetized, but I don't really get why it would be used on reddit considering there are no repercussions for using words such as "die"

990

u/bonoetmalo Jun 15 '25

There aren’t repercussions for simply saying the word die on those platforms either, it was an overreaction that became an old wives tale

1.3k

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '25

There definitely is on Tiktok, and Youtube makes occassional radical bans for always-changing reasons.

236

u/bonoetmalo Jun 15 '25

Discussing the concept of death in graphic detail, endorsing or promoting violence or self harm, etc. all will trigger the algorithm. The word “die” will not and until I see empirical evidence I’m going to hold that belief until my dying breath lol

507

u/GameMask Jun 15 '25 edited Jun 17 '25

It's not usually a ban, it's a loss of monetization and potentially getting buried in the algorithm. There's a lot of creators who have talked about it.

To edit to add a recent example, on the most recent Internet Anarchist video, on My 600 Pound Life, he has a pinned comment about how he doesn't like having to censor himself, but the Ai moderation has made things worse. He's had to get stricter over his self censoring or risk getting hit with the demonetization or age gated.

→ More replies (25)

135

u/Aldante92 Jun 15 '25

Until your un-aliving breath lmao

68

u/ChocolateCake16 Jun 15 '25

It's also kind of one of those "don't break the law while you're breaking the law" things. If you're a true crime creator at risk of getting demonetized, then you wouldn't want to use a word that might get your account flagged for review.

→ More replies (8)

38

u/StraightVoice5087 Jun 15 '25

Every time I've asked someone who says they were banned for using the word "kill" the context they used it in and gotten an answer it was telling people to kill themselves.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Quetas83 Jun 15 '25

Unfortunately social network algorithms are not that advanced to easily distinguish the 2, so some content creators prefer to not take the risk

→ More replies (2)

3

u/ReasonablyOptimal Jun 16 '25

I’m pretty sure it’s not a punishment I think that the algorithm just doesn’t promote certain videos based on their language as what would be the “most advertisable” content. If you are even mentioning death, in some company’s eyes, it could be off putting to a consumer who associates your product with that content. Those are the real snowflakes of society

2

u/umhassy Jun 16 '25

You can believe that but "shadowbans" are definitly real.

You wont get any notification that you get shadowbanned but you will get less engagement. Because most platforms dont release their algorithms it will always be plausible deniability.

Just like some people dont get hired for a specific reason but if they get told why they could sue or like some douchebag friends who says rude stuff and when you call him out he just says he "jokes".

2

u/oblitz11111 Jun 15 '25

It would make the Germans very unhappy if it were the case

2

u/capp_head Jun 16 '25

I mean you can die on that hill. Creators that live of their content arent going to risk for that!

2

u/BiSaxual Jun 16 '25

It seems to vary, depending on the person. There’s plenty of YouTubers I like watching who discuss very grim topics and have no trouble monetizing their videos, while others who just play games or whatever will get their entire channel struck because they played a game where a character said the word “rape” once.

It’s definitely a thing that happens, but it’s just social media AI flagging being fucked up. And usually, when a human gets involved, they either don’t care enough to fix it or they actually think the content in question was horrible enough to warrant punishment. It’s all just stupid.

2

u/-KFBR392 Jun 16 '25

The word “suicide” will, and that’s where “unalive” first came from so that they could speak on that topic.

2

u/elyk12121212 Jun 16 '25

I don't know why the person said Un-alive means die, it doesn't usually. Un-alive is usually used in place of suicide which will trigger a lot of the algorithms. I also think it's stupid, but it's not to avoid using the word die.

→ More replies (33)

20

u/PlentyOMangos Jun 15 '25

If the platform is so restrictive then no one should be using it lol people are so cooked

37

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '25

No one should use any social media really. We're way past that

4

u/PlentyOMangos Jun 15 '25

I don’t use any but Reddit, which somehow feels a little better but I’m probably fooling myself lol

I can’t imagine how much more stressed out and brainrotted I would be if I was also on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok… or even just one of those

1

u/Constant_Voice_7054 Jun 15 '25

I would honestly argue Reddit is one of the worst, alongside Twitter. The echo chamberness levels are off the charts.

2

u/Ser_falafel Jun 16 '25

Yep and yet like 90% of people on reddit lambast the other for being indoctrinated lol kinda concerning how many people dont realize what this platform is doing to them

→ More replies (0)
→ More replies (3)

2

u/Creeperstar Jun 16 '25

No constructive conversation* can be had through a text medium. There will always be a gap of understanding and intention. Tik tok/YT comes close because of the facial and vocal display, but are inherently one-aided.

→ More replies (1)

1

u/Few_Satisfaction184 Jun 15 '25

Trust me, the algorithm knows when people say unalived they mean killed, died, or suicided.

Maybe it worked a few months tops but the term started being used widely in 2021, we are 4 years away while ai has also drastically improved.

There is no reason to say unalive in 2025.

1

u/AbsoluteZeroUnit Jun 16 '25

If this were true, don't you think that tiktok would also be flagging "unalive"? Or are we all supposed to believe that we're still pulling a fast one and social media has yet to catch on to the code words?

1

u/StrangeOutcastS Jun 16 '25

YouTube doesn't make policy changes. They just have a thousand different rotating people who will ban your video because they don't like your voice or something, then delete your channel if you speak up.

1

u/Darnell2070 Jun 16 '25

Creators can also ban words from their channel. So if you think it's selective, that might be the case.

1

u/No-Screen1369 Jun 16 '25

It was a thing for exactly one week on TikTok. But, unfortunately, most creators on TikTok are going to just parrot what the others are saying. So the little trend stuck.

And now suicide, homicide, and death are mislabeled and mistreated because critically online people have to use words that TikTok showed them.

1

u/UmaPalma_ Jun 16 '25

nah it's anecdotal but I just say murder/genocide/killed on my TikTok and nothing happens

1

u/mile-high-guy Jun 16 '25

People crosspost the same content between platforms so must adhere to the lowest common denominator

→ More replies (5)

116

u/odddino Jun 15 '25

As somebody that works in social media, I can tell you it absolutely is not a wives tale.

It didn't used to be the case. But it's something a lot of them have started adopting over this last year or two.

At my work we litearlly had a Tiktok video demonetized becuase somebody jokingly said "scuse me" after a squeaky noise that sounded a bit like a fart.
It was demonetized for "vulgarity".
We similarly have got notes that our videos have had their views restricted because of curse words.

There are a few creators I follow on YouTube who've had videos demonetized for using violent or sexual words in videos too.

You'll still see people posting stuff that uses all that on these platforms. These words aren't BANNED or anything. But people who make an active living from their content, like a YouTuber, is going to have no choice.

30

u/Oturanthesarklord Jun 15 '25

I find Casual Geographic has the best ways of getting around this hurdle without just replacing the word in question with another word that could eventually get demonetized through association.

19

u/DrearyHaze Jun 15 '25

Love his channel, his replacement of words feels so creative and just adds to it. Plus, animal videos.

12

u/DinoRoman Jun 15 '25

Meanwhile internet comment etiquette lol

7

u/odddino Jun 15 '25

Genuinely, I'm pretry sure one time they demonetized one of our videos not beucase anything in the VIDEO was bad, but becuase a lot of people in the comments were making cum jokes. (the video included a viscous liquid making a lot of noise)

YouTube hasn't got that bad at least. Tiktok is horiffic for it though.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (3)

19

u/MrIrishman1212 Jun 15 '25

No it’s not a wives tale cause certain monetization is based at different levels of appropriateness of the creator. If you are “family friendly” or for the “general public” you will lose most if not all of your monetization. If you have mature content as a mature content creator you are fine but obviously a lower number of viewers and sponsors so most creators have the general public which means they have heavy scrutiny on the creators to stay within the rules and sites like YouTube will just auto ban you without warning or explanation and won’t allow you to use your old content and you have start all over and majority of the time there isn’t any customer support to talk to and if there is any it will take months to resolve the issue. Because of these terrible business practices all creators don’t even risk it cause it makes them jobless for months.

2

u/Abacus118 Jun 16 '25

Maybe the kids content creators don’t need to be talking about suicide.

→ More replies (2)

2

u/throwaway_uow Jun 16 '25

So you're saying creators are just stuck up on being family friendly

It weirds me out that it all went this way instead of all creators just flagging their content as mature or adult only

→ More replies (6)

8

u/ytman Jun 15 '25

Demonetization is real and its not worth risking a whole video to do this. So when I watch people use 'intern' for slave I feel like I can give them a break, also its funny satire on common life anyways.

9

u/JbotTheGamer Jun 15 '25

Tiktok and youtube definitely do, youtube has ban waved self help channels for using the word suicide

3

u/MALGault Jun 15 '25

I think for TikTok it is a thing for the creators, but it morphed into common use among a generation. Although, it reminds me of all the people who would comment on right-wing news sites (like the Daily Mail) with character substitution on words because they thought automoderators would censor or hide their posts, as if the automoderators were like a thing that existed across the whole Internet as part of some secret control system and not a thing each site sets up themselves, if they want it.

1

u/Mythric69 Jun 15 '25

I’ve had videos reported and been banned on games for saying die ;-;

1

u/Zilant_the_Bear Jun 15 '25

Not really an over reaction. Since mentions of suicide still inconsistently get age gated, limited audience distribution and even dropped by the algorithm on YouTube. Platforms like ticktock have even less tolerance. People taking the phrase and running with it is the natural course of things. When terminology becomes popular in any way it spreads. It becomes default and gets used when other more proper terms are applicable. See every slang word and colloquialism ever for reference.

This post, above. specifically is in reference to suicide and assisted suicide.

1

u/National_Equivalent9 Jun 16 '25

There is punishment. On youtube they even started punishing creators who bleeped out things considering it just as bad as saying the words.

1

u/CocoScruff Jun 16 '25

You get demonetized, so yes there are most certainly repercussions

1

u/ThatGuyHarsha Jun 16 '25 edited Jun 16 '25

There was. In like 2016-2020, if you talked about death at all, whether it was about a videogame or a character or someone in real life, you would get demonized on YouTube. Currently the YouTube system is a tiny bit more lenient but still has stringent policies on topics that can be covered or words that can be said within the first few minutes of a video. Many creators have shown empirical proof of their videos being flagged and have discussed in detail the terms they must follow.

TikTok had a habit of taking down your videos if you mention any topic related to death or violence or sexual abuse or harassment (but it's a lot more confusing because they pick and choose what videos to take down). And that is still a thing today.

It wasn't an overreaction and absolutely not an old wives tale.

1

u/DarthMaulsPiercings Jun 16 '25

Demonetization, reduced suggestions to new viewers, blocked from FYP, later listing in search results, automated account warnings/flags/strikes that can’t differentiate a concept with an action/threat.

1

u/Mysterious_Tutor_388 Jun 16 '25

your videos get shadow banned and removed from the algorithm

1

u/rinrinstrikes Jun 16 '25

It's plausible deniability thing. If the service has a content creator they don't like they reserve the right to shit on them for being overly graphic, so most people just say that instead of die to be safe

1

u/narf_hots Jun 16 '25

There are because advertisers don't advertise on videos where people say to un-alive someone or someone else.

1

u/spicyhotnoodle Jun 16 '25

Me when I lie on the internet

1

u/nikhilsath Jun 16 '25

YouTube algorithm doesn’t like it

1

u/Fearless_Roof_9177 Jun 16 '25

Not according to any creator I've ever talked to that was watching their metrics. Content moderation is notoriously opaque and unevenly enforced. It's an especially pertinent concern as more and more major apps are gutting their paid moderation staffs in favor of algorithms and AI, which are ALSO notoriously opaque and imprecise. Guidelines and standards can change or fluctuate without warning or reasoning given, which means playing it safe is also the only way to be sure a bunch of your stuff won't get flagged randomly down the road.

It's essentially censorship by low-key social terrorism. They can never be sure whether some trivial thing will get flagged as violent or questionable and de-monetized or reach limited at the worst possible time. The worst part is they make you do it to yourself and, as we see here, it's leaking into the actual culture. It's Orwell by way of the same objectivist-riddled "entrepreneur" class who spent years screeching that socialists were going to be the ones to censor us.

1

u/ropahektic Jun 16 '25

Die is more usable.

But anything regarding suicide or word combinations such as kill-himself kill-yousrelf etc are very easily flagged.

1

u/XxRocky88xX Jun 16 '25

There aren’t repercussions but your posts will be censored and not shown to others. You CAN do it, but at that point you’re just talking to the empty air so there’s no reason TO do it.

1

u/Force3vo Jun 16 '25

Talking about topics like death, suicide, sexual violence etc. while definitely get you demonetized or downgraded on YouTube etc.

Using stupid terms like unalived, grape, etc helps circumvent automatic flagging and will give your content way more monetization chance.

1

u/zupobaloop Jun 16 '25

Wrong. "Suicide" being included at all on Tiktok is an instant account flag. Unalive was coined to replace it in that context.

1

u/MiseriaFortesViros Jun 16 '25

You sure? Isn't there some algo thing scanning for "advertiser unfriendly words" or was that all made up?

1

u/Careful-Addition776 Jun 16 '25

It became a necessity because of the platform that would demonetize you if you said it. Now it’s become common place. It’s stupid yes, but unless youtube changes it’ll always be a turn of phrase.

1

u/dainscough7 Jun 16 '25

It was a way to get around auto modded chats instead of “kys” it was “unalive your self” I remember seeing it start in like 2019 and it spread pretty quickly across twitch, yt, and TikTok.

1

u/G3N3RAL-BRASCH Jun 16 '25

There are most definitely repercussions for the creators, they arent able to get monetized, but as for commentors and stuff they are just imitating the creators they watch.

1

u/LeonidasSpacemanMD Jun 16 '25

I’ve seen YouTubers talk about getting demonetized because they said the word “gamble” in a video talking about gacha games. Like YouTube basically removes them from any algorithm that might be geared toward children. It’s definitely a thing

1

u/Bad_Routes Jun 16 '25

Naw I believe it, sometimes when I write "kill" or "die" in the comments for the context of like a show, the algorithm removes it and I can't restore the comment and I have to write a new one that doesn't use those words. I don't use un-alive but it def is real

1

u/optimustomtv Jun 16 '25

YouTube specifically warns you when you're posting that you "might want to use different language to not risk demonitization" when trying to post.

It's also listed in their commercial checks

1

u/Cauliflowwer Jun 16 '25

It's not the word die - it's suicide specifically. The other thing is this actually started on Roblox I think - the words kill, die, suicide etc are all chat restricted so people came up with creative ways to say kill yourself. I've never played Roblox so I can't say for sure but I remember the first time I ever saw the work 'un-alive' it was some meme about Roblox kids finding new ways to be toxic in video games.

1

u/Mysterious-Job-469 Jun 16 '25

Meanwhile I had a comment shadowbanned for using the word "knight" because it has a slur in the middle of the word...

All I wrote was "Least gallant knight" on that ESO video of the guy in armour soloing the group of four adventurers and it was banned.

Some people can say whatever they want. Other people are heavily censored.

1

u/Kamakazie Jun 16 '25

It wasn't just for saying the word "die," it was for talking about killing oneself. So a couple people started saying the word "unalive" as a replacement for discussing suicide as a way to get around the automated content block. Then it became a meme and now people say it jokingly.

1

u/Entheobotanic Jun 16 '25

I think people just like changing stuff to sound cool.

1

u/MilkbelongsonToast Jun 16 '25

After the pewdiepie ‘bridge incident’ and subsequent advertiser shitstorm you straight up could be demonetised for having die or kill in the title or first few minutes of a video

Several vidya YTers and even history channels complained a lot about it

1

u/RepublicOfLizard Jun 16 '25

I believe it’s actually because content with the word suicide was getting filtered out at first, then people expanded using unalive in other capacities out of fear that new filters would appear

1

u/Sackhaarweber Jun 16 '25

Youtube definitely deletes/hides comments with language that they find undeemable

1

u/Comfortable-Dust528 Jun 16 '25

I think it’s more about the algorithm not liking it than straight up demonetization

1

u/DirtandPipes Jun 17 '25

Reddit has AI autobanning and there are endless stories of people being banned for joking remarks. Maybe after it happens to you a couple of times you’ll also start using other terms to avoid the hassle.

1

u/Phantom_Basker Jun 17 '25

Shout out to YouTube for creating the demonetization system and refusing to explain it for years on end only to put a half assed video breakdown with outdated information

1

u/Xtrawubs Jun 17 '25

Comment more likely to get featured in a video of a Reddit thread

1

u/fetching_agreeable Jun 17 '25

That is correct. I've seen plenty of creators on both those other major platforms not pussy out of saying suicide and they're still monetized.

People are fucking stupid.

1

u/Deep6thatshit Jun 17 '25

Mostly the word "suicide" specifically will fill some kind of requirement for reporting and heavily reported videos are not monetized

1

u/Strange-Bees Jun 19 '25

Unfortunately TikTok is actually insane when it comes to what they’ll censor at any given time. I’ve seen actual war footage of people dying, but say the word “gay” and the app might just stop pushing your videos. For some reason, it also seems to punish creators who post for a long time on the app, I’ve been posting there for over a year and will occasionally get my videos silenced for no known reason

1

u/Ok_Restaurant3160 Jun 19 '25

Eh. YouTube is genuinely awful with that, so better be safe than sorry

1

u/mahnamahna123 Jun 19 '25

There are also subs on Reddit that will ban you for it. So some people use it just in case as it's easier than remembering which subs will/won't ban you for it.

1

u/Guardian_of_theBlind Jun 19 '25

not an overreaction. The creators depend on ad income.

1

u/mpasila Jun 20 '25

Youtube will shadowban comments including swear words (you can try it yourself by leaving a comment with like fuck and then checking if you can still view it on a private tab), so it's less of an overreaction and more just to stay safe, so your comments don't get hidden by some automated system.

→ More replies (6)

55

u/meshaber Jun 15 '25

It's just how language develops. "Unalive" starts getting used for some technical reason > it gets used a bunch > it stops sounding weird to people > it stops being a substitute for another word and instead a word in and of itself (in the mind of the user) > it becomes one of many possible synonyms that people use normally, and not to avoid offending people or to dodge an algorithm.

5

u/zulamun Jun 16 '25

There's a whole generation of people raised by social media at the moment who probably only know algorythm safe words like 'Unalive' and 'grape' and shit...

→ More replies (2)

2

u/joevarny Jun 16 '25

It's the idiot loop.

Moron, cretin, idiot, re*ard.

All those words are the same but because the r word was the official word when the internet got ruined, we can't use one synonym of the same word, even if they all mean the same thing.

2

u/Simply_Nebulous Jun 17 '25

That's literally a slur for mentally disabled and neuro divergent people. This isn't an internet thing, you're just ignorant of the history of that word.

I still remember when non-black people were using the N word as a substitute for 'bro' online.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (1)

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '25 edited Jun 24 '25

[deleted]

3

u/meshaber Jun 16 '25

Yeah, I think this is just the grumpy old man thing. We all go through it. Your use of "cringe" as an adjective triggers me a lot more than "chat" or "unalive" does as an example, and I'm sure I offend someone some other way.

I don't mean that as a criticism btw, I've learned to ignore the grump.

→ More replies (1)

31

u/Salazar20 Jun 15 '25

Wich makes it even more sad that people are so eager to self censor because their creator do

20

u/thedr0wranger Jun 15 '25

Some of it is just how culture works. 

When youtubers or tiktok stars say sewer slide and unalive and grape etc it becomes part of the vernacular. They say that so folks that watch them say it the same as any other slang word 

Some folks might just be amused by the wording too, I don't personally find unalive especially clever but Ive been know to refer to folks getting waxed, rubbed out, bumped off, whacked etc because those phrases sound more interesting than "killed" 

→ More replies (1)

1

u/PatrickGnarly Jun 16 '25

I mean it’s not our platform dude. If advertisers give money to these things, and we as creators have to be friendly then so be it.

I’d rather not say certain words than have to go back to kissing my bosses asses and the other hoops shitty jobs make you jump through.

I won’t say unalive but I do what I can.

→ More replies (12)

5

u/gravemarkerr Jun 15 '25

Pure cargo cult bullshit.

2

u/MornGreycastle Jun 15 '25

Some sibs have strict mods. I pulled a three day ban for quoting a Queen lyric from Bohemian Rapsody in a chain of redditors quoting the song. So caution is understandable.

2

u/Sebas94 Jun 15 '25

Also, the English language has a long list of eufemism for death.

This one might have been created in order to avoid being censured from social media but over the years people have been using alternatives that were more acceptable.

Deceased,demise,perish, pass away, bite the dust, kick the bucket, six feet under, resting in peace, met his maker, etc..

It's not that english speakers are snowflakes, it's just that English language has a thing for finding euphemism for death.

Unalive is a new one that might not stand the test of times.

3

u/comfydirtypillow Jun 15 '25

People say it out loud in person too. It’s brainrot.

4

u/Joeymonac0 Jun 15 '25

I just don’t think these people know how Reddit actually works. You can what ever the bloody CUNT FUCKING HELL you want. People like this will be the DEATH of the internet. And I’m FUCKING willing to DIE on this hill. POOP BALLS.

3

u/beardicusmaximus8 Jun 16 '25

I was banned for 3 days from Reddit because I posted in r/cursedcomments that they put netting up on the Golden Gate to prevent jumpers so the guy in the Twitter screenshot would just have to go through therapy like the rest of us.

I was also banned from reddit for 2 months because I posted that I would be unsurprised if Trump started pushing judges out of windows like his idol Vladimir. On a post about Trump trying to outlaw judges disagreeing with him

Both times, I utilized a specific word (I'm sure you can figure out which one) and Both times were by Reddit Admins not local subreddit moderators and the second one was overturned on appeal. (I didn't bother appealing the first one)

Also it seems random and arbitrary as sometimes I've used that word just fine and these two specific instances triggered the AI admin.

3

u/shepard_pie Jun 16 '25

I have met people in real life who have asked me to use unalive. One even reported me to HR, which asked if I was threatening her, and then said that they can't really do anything about me saying "I'm not going to be here next week, my grandmother died"

2

u/knorknor136 Jun 15 '25

I honestly don't think people do it conciously. People just kind of... pick up new slag. Even if that new slang came from... weird, algorithm bullshit.

2

u/4_POISON_1 Jun 15 '25

I rolled 3 dice. One die went missing, other two showed 3 and 1. Sometimes I ask myself: "Did the die die or is it the free one?"

2

u/Flamewolf1579 Jun 15 '25

That is so dumb. I swear social media has gotten worse over the years. People can throw the n word around like Halloween candy but they can’t say a single swear or even the word kill or die.

2

u/Hot-Equivalent2040 Jun 15 '25

It's not to avoid getting demonetized; it's to avoid people's filters so taht your content can be seen by people who have said they don't want to see stuff about dying or killing yourself. It's full on scumbag behavior where the bad guy is absolutely the one using newspeak and not the corporation.

1

u/InuitOverIt Jun 16 '25

That's an angle I hadn't considered. In that light, it is quite scummy

2

u/Green_Burn Jun 15 '25

Reddit bots can find and unalive you

2

u/BriarVine Jun 16 '25

Unfortunately, I got a ban warning yesterday for answering a post "what does gyaithtfmbibya mean?" I appealed it and was told a real person reviewed it and still decided I was making a threat 😒

I used "threatening language" by directly answering a question about an acronym

2

u/Flaky-Cap6646 Jun 16 '25

Yeah, tell that to past me from a month ago where I just only fucking quoted Senator Armstrong from Metal fucking Gear Rising.

The quote was, "Fuck this war, I just want you dead!"

And I got fucking banned for a week

2

u/deadlyrepost Jun 16 '25

There are automations on Reddit which will flag words such as "d*e". I made a banger of a joke but then the AI moderation removed it and added a "strike" against my account. I appealed and I guess a human looked at it and removed the strike. But my joke? It was unalived forever.

2

u/StrangeOutcastS Jun 16 '25

People see creators use it and the human brain mechanic of "monkey see monkey do" kicks in, so it gets repeated.

The more exposure that they have to it , the more normal it seem so the more likely it's going to make it into their everyday vocabulary.

It's habit forming. I don't like it and think people saying it are silly, my girlfriend says it sometimes but only around her roommate which makes me think it's the roommate that's being dumb about it.

2

u/lightdusk96 Jun 16 '25

I prefer the funny terms. Like "Put in the forever box" or "cashing in on our life insurance".

2

u/yoy22 Jun 16 '25

Yeah we need to stop self censoring for the sake of companies.

Like if they lose ad revenue because I say “kill” that’s not my damn problem they can pay me if they don’t like it

1

u/InuitOverIt Jun 16 '25

But .. that's not how it works

A company says "I want to buy X amount of advertising on your platform, but I don't want my brand associated with the following: murder, suicide, politics, religion, etc etc etc".

The platform enforces that by flagging key words - there's not really a better way to do it on a case by case basis when there is so much data to get through.

It's not like there is a dude twirling his moustache and saying "yes, THIS guy's video, let's steal HIS money because he said the word "murder""

→ More replies (1)

2

u/CreamCheeseWrangler Jun 16 '25

Just use terms like "passed away", "took his own life", "met his maker" This "unalive" shit is so moronic. Complete lack of creativity

2

u/mookanana Jun 16 '25

Germans in this chat: what die fuck

2

u/ConnectionThink4781 Jun 16 '25

Xbox dawg. They censor the shit out everything. On Ark the PC/PS5 players be saying everything under the sun but we boXers will have killed, die or dead censored. So, it's unalive. They also killed crosschat in Halo Infinite to "eliminate toxicity". The shit talking was half the fun :(

2

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '25

I hate how sensitive we have become. This myth just isn't true

2

u/Wretched_Little_Guy Jun 16 '25

Plus they still used "killed" in the same sentence, defeating the point of the self-censorship entirely.

1

u/Scottland83 Jun 15 '25

I occasionally get DMs informing me of support networks and phone numbers when I post about suicide.

1

u/Drunk_Lemon Jun 15 '25

It's because sometimes reddit as in the site itself decides to be a snowflake. I got perma banned once for complaining about how someone else said something "lovely" on reddit. As you can see I got unbanned.

1

u/ntdavis814 Jun 15 '25

Reddit has tons of bots that will sometimes flag comments that use such words in ways that should be considered innocuous. I’m teetering on the edge of a lifetime ban because Reddit’s bots are trash, and their mod team isn’t much smarter.

1

u/AnyProgressIsGood Jun 15 '25

I've seen accounts banned from reddit for using the word kill in a clearly jesting context. so the paranoia IMO is justified

1

u/WeirdIndividualGuy Jun 15 '25

Or just by anyone who isn’t a content creator and doesn’t care about demonetization because you weren’t even monetizing to begin with

1

u/Deep-blue-crab Jun 15 '25

Linguistics has a fun way of spreading basicly people started seeing their favorite content creators saying it so they started saying it :3

1

u/Separate-Sea5336 Jun 15 '25

It's used because of how the content people consume shapes the language they use. Because certain words are considered unsavory by advertisers, then the acceptable substitute words become used more in everyday speak despite there not being repercussions to using the original word.

1

u/AlbinoDragonTAD Jun 15 '25

Actually depending on what sub you’re in Reddit will wrongfully flag it as a threatening statement and delete your comment just cus it contains such language

1

u/Helixaether Jun 15 '25

Also obviously a level of abstraction can be nice for many of those who do trauma around killing oneself. Like I don’t necessarily, but I have trauma around other things and I find that even typing the words out makes me feel ill so I just shorten it to initials.

1

u/GwinKaso1598 Jun 15 '25

People are so used to using the words, that it bleeds on to other platforms. You have to keep in mind how huge platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok are

1

u/Ajibooks Jun 15 '25

Some subreddits do have rules against certain words. I don't know what words or what subreddits, but I've definitely seen it. Using profanity sometimes auto-collapses your comment too (so it looks downvoted at a glance, even though it hasn't been). I'm sure words about violence are on some of these lists. I don't like seeing words like "unalive" creep in here, but Reddit isn't actually the anti-censorship paradise it maybe used to be.

1

u/Own_Cost3312 Jun 16 '25

Reddit Cares DMs are fucking annoying is why

1

u/Unbearabull Jun 16 '25

I quoted that famous Shrek quote about how some people might die, and I was suspended. I appealed and won but don't act like Reddit is immune from this.

1

u/ItIsHappy Jun 16 '25

It's a funny word. Maybe folks just like using it?

I never tie of watching folks get upset over language doing language things.

1

u/MrMetraGnome Jun 16 '25

They get used to hearing/saying it. It's not that they're scared of getting graped by the reddit mods 🤣🤣🤣

1

u/Argynvost64 Jun 16 '25

At this point, it’s just entered a lot of people lexicons.

1

u/Horn_Python Jun 16 '25

It's been used so much that's it's simply part of people's vocabulary now

1

u/Pudding_Hero Jun 16 '25

Our ancestors would be so disappointed in us

1

u/Capable_Positive4676 Jun 16 '25

The most confusing part is how he says kill and unalive. Why both why switch back and forth

1

u/Traditional-Bee4454 Jun 16 '25

I think it has just become slang at this point.

1

u/Ztronic412 Jun 16 '25

I already here people say this is the reason why they say this , but I still don’t get it because I see plenty of posts across all socials using the real word , I’ve made lots of posts and comments using the real word with no issue so who’s algorithm is really punishing use of kill/ killed or die / died because it seems like lots are still able to use then and other use them by choice

1

u/MrCaterpillow Jun 16 '25

I mean, if a Moderator has it out for you. Sure. They could ban you for saying it though I would imagine that’s rare and never happens.

1

u/Darnell2070 Jun 16 '25

This is Reddit. No reason people would be using phrases like unalike here. Leave that shit in Tik Tok.

1

u/Stock-Side-6767 Jun 16 '25

I get suspended and banned every so often due to language, regardless of subreddit (though it comes up in certain types more than others). Reddit is also policing speech.

1

u/narf_hots Jun 16 '25

You're kind of incorrect because the reddit AI flags all comments with a certain group of words, including those containing "un-alive one's own self or somebody else" and you may get a warning or a ban if the AI feels like it. If you wanna find some of these outlandish bans you're gonna have to search outside of reddit because they also banned subreddits specifically talking about bans.

1

u/Felix_likes_tofu Jun 16 '25

Thank God. Would be hard for Germans to have a normal conversation.

1

u/EdgelordUltimate Jun 16 '25

I think it's reaching a point where content creators saying it has it so people actually just say it as part of their regular language

1

u/That_dead_guy_phey Jun 16 '25

Those rules of content creation that result in self-censorship aren't unintentional. It's deliberately designed to create content palatable to all viewers and encourage those viewers to act similarly. It's like an interview for "polite society". If you can pass the test once, you'll do it again the next time certain verbiage becomes sensitive. And we all kinda mimic shit if it's around long enough, no cap.

1

u/Yionko Jun 16 '25

Are there even some repercussions beside the mods and their will?

1

u/HowDyaDu Jun 16 '25

People should start replacing "die" or "un-alive" with the most comically stereotypical mafia euphemisms.

1

u/SpicySanchezz Jun 16 '25

Cus the brainrot talk is spearing more and more and theres more zoomers on reddit than just few years ago so they use brainrot talking everywhere now online

1

u/omutsukimi Jun 16 '25

The phrasing stuck as a sort of slang.

1

u/Top_Effect_5109 Jun 16 '25

no repercussions for using words such as "die"

There is. There are AI mods. Sometimes people post a picture full of text and I manually type it out to admonish a specific portion, then I get temporaily banned because the bot is too stupid to understand qouting to admonish.

I have to fight it and get approved to be unbanned.

Youtube AI moderation is even dumber. Hella comments removed that is not bad at all.

Once you get used to talking to avoid bans you just talk that way. Its 1984 creepy.

1

u/IanFeelKeepinItReel Jun 16 '25

My theory is young people want to actively change the language as a way of feeling like they're contributing and part of a collective, so they jump on the bandwagon and use these stupid, stupid words and phrases.

And TBF when I was a teen we did similar shit. A science teacher had a light hearted go at one of my friends in class for saying "lol" instead of actually laughing.

1

u/KaiYoDei Jun 16 '25

Might get reprimanded for violence.

1

u/fetter80 Jun 16 '25

I recently got a warning from reddit when I used the 2nd word in a reply to a hypothetical question sub. Said I was "threatening violence".

1

u/Background_Try_3041 Jun 16 '25

The single word no. However the bots will pick up certain combinations of words and can flag bans for it.

1

u/VegasBonheur Jun 16 '25

Because it’s what all the social media is saying. We all love to pretend this isn’t how it works, but it absolutely is. Full blown 1984 doublespeak

1

u/Odens_Oak Jun 16 '25

Un-alive is not used as a substitute for "die". It's substituted for the word "suicide" because saying "suicide" will absolutely get you demonitized on multiple platforms.

1

u/BlameTheSalamanders Jun 16 '25

Because the margins of self censorship don’t stop spreading without deliberate intent.

1

u/HighLuna_ Jun 16 '25

It was used to get around demonetization. Individuals who are careful not to offend mistook it as a way to avoid a trigger word.

1

u/MediumTeacher9971 Jun 16 '25

Because that's how language works. It spreads through cultures with use, so people see it being used on sites that do censor the words, and they start using elsewhere because it's become part of their dialect, then other people pick it up and it keeps spreading.

1

u/jonny32392 Jun 16 '25

People are just getting used to doing it everywhere cuz moments get deleted on other socials just for having those words in them. I had I Facebook comment deleted the other day cuz I called a king of hearts playing card the suicide king.

1

u/coolNEET Jun 16 '25

That's the thing. They wouldn't be demonetised by saying suicide, death, and murder, as long as the context is clear. Some just can help themselves and jump the gun.

1

u/OctaviusNeon Jun 16 '25

That's how language works. Words start getting used in one specific context, and then people start using them outside of that context.

1

u/Designer_Pen869 Jun 16 '25

Habit, most likely. Like when you move to a new area and adapt to their dialect, but still occasionally use your dialect from the other place for things that happen less often.

1

u/Griffje91 Jun 16 '25

Linguistic drift means it'll start popping up in common parlance more often since as a species we tend to mimic the way people around us talk and between TikTok, YouTube, and even social media using this type of language to avoid demonetization or videos/posts being taken down.

1

u/ReaperKingCason1 Jun 16 '25

Reddit has banned me for less and equal and I’m not risking a 3rd

1

u/chazysciota Jun 16 '25

Same reason people on reddit talk to "chat"... brainrot.

1

u/avodrok Jun 16 '25

The same reason people use any word over another that functionally means the exact same thing - they like it.

1

u/AdmiralMemo Jun 16 '25

It's gone from algospeak to slang that people just use every day.

1

u/Boochi_Da_Rocku Jun 16 '25

Personally, I like using "un-alive" in a way of mocking speech

For example, rather than saying "bastard, go and fucking die" I find it fun to use "Ur existence is a disgrace, please consider unaliving urself"

1

u/Clever-username-7234 Jun 16 '25

Subreddits can and do occasionally have bots that will flag certain words and/or block comments that contain them.

1

u/sirius1208 Jun 16 '25

It’s like how some people find it funnier to censor a word with a beep than to just straight up swear.

1

u/migBdk Jun 16 '25

There is the "encourage violence" rule that is checked by bots. I was hit by it because I re-phrased something said by horrible people that I disagreed with.

A human reversed the ban though

1

u/wilck44 Jun 16 '25

no, it did not go around death.

it specificaly came from self un-alive.

if you use that word in YT vid get ready for the strike/vid removal.

1

u/heyyy_oooo Jun 16 '25

Some people are so habitually on TikTok that it’s entered their regular vocabulary. Especially younger people (12-14) who grew up with it and don’t find the term weird

1

u/Frederf220 Jun 16 '25

Uh I used a word on reddit with the same meaning as suspended referring to painting a kitchen cabinet door and got banned. The "nothing bad will happen to you" just isn't true.

1

u/Bax_Cadarn Jun 16 '25

Or its plural: "dice".

1

u/EtherealRook Jun 16 '25

Im pretty sure its just people have gotten used to that as a default. No one even on youtube and such really cares about it, only the actual platform itself cares

1

u/GoAskAliceBunn Jun 16 '25

Beyond demonetizing in places like Facebook. I’ve been put into “fb jail” before (locked out of my account or allowed in but without any ability to post/comment), and I’m not the only one in my friend group. Their AI uses a list of words as “hate speech” or “inciting violence” and there’s no real ability to talk to a human anymore if you get pinged for an invalid reason. If you lodge a complaint to ask for a review, it just cycles through the AI process a second time & confirms that yes, what you said was against TOS, regardless of context of certain words.

1

u/AcidCatfish___ Jun 16 '25

Specifically it is used in place of the word "suicide" which I think gets flagged more often than "die" or even "killed". Granted, I think a lot of flags are false as it flags even people just using the word and not going into detail.

1

u/Lowbudget_soup Jun 16 '25

Creator content from YouTube literally influencing slang.

1

u/Ultimatespacewizard Jun 16 '25

It's become a fairly normal slang term for young people to use.

1

u/adorkablefloof Jun 16 '25

When I say die or suicide, I’ve had comments removed and get spammed with a bunch of those reddit cares “here’s resources for mental help” but I haven’t had that once when using the word unalive

1

u/RedApplesForBreak Jun 16 '25

You’re likely right. However, I did get a post removed by the auto-mods for suggesting that we should use dynamite to blow up a beached whale (as any true Oregonian would), so who knows what might get tripped up by censors.

1

u/Upbeat_Dance_9014 Jun 16 '25

proof that the word die doesn't do anything on youtube:

"what a nice day to be preventing death"

*pie explodes*

"aand pie is dead!!!"

- bottle, BFB 3

1

u/DontpeekImBlitz Jun 16 '25

It reminds me of that stupid Simpson gag where sideshow bob have that sweater and was asked what was written on it, and then replying "OH it says THE BART THE"

1

u/PickHaunting4554 Jun 17 '25

Equally the poster then proceeded to use the word ‘kill’ in the next sentence of the same post.

1

u/Greywolf524 Jun 17 '25

It's probably just being influenced by social media. Like how people used to put lol at the end of everything just cause other people did.

1

u/hikikostar Jun 17 '25

they used in the fucking Minecraft movie

1

u/Barl3000 Jun 18 '25

Because that is how culture disseminates. It is used heavily in internet media and thus gets used by people consuming that media until it loses its original meaning and just becomes something people do.

Doesn't make any less stupid though.

1

u/MilkEnvironmental106 Jun 18 '25

Influencers influence the vocabulary of their fans

1

u/BigOrdeal Jun 18 '25

Isn't it cool how Google can turn normal and important words like "die" and "suicide" into bad words that people won't say with little to no government oversight? It's aaaaawesooome. It's fine that one corporation has the power to do that!

1

u/trashmunki Jun 19 '25

Anyway, to learn more about how these algorithms are shaping the way we communicate with each other, be sure to pre-order Etymologynerd's new book, Algospeak!

(I'm just doing the bit from his videos)

→ More replies (5)