Unalive
Subject in Social Sciences
Unalive has come up in 1 episode across 1 podcast in TMT, including TED Radio Hour. 1 person has made recorded remarks about it.
What people said
Adam AleksicLinguist and TikTok creator featured in part two of the series
Aleksic traces "unalive" to a 2013 Ultimate Spider-Man meme that later spread through Roblox and the TikTok mental health community.
“the word unalive started in 2013 with an ultimate Spider-Man meme that then turned into a Roblox meme in the late 2010s”
TED Radio Hour: How the creator economy is making you talk like the internet (Aug 21, 2026) · Listen from 7:32
Aleksic says that the word "kill" is suppressed on TikTok, which led users to adopt alternatives like "unalive."
“you can't say the word kill on TikTok. I mean, I guess you can, but it's suppressed”
TED Radio Hour: How the creator economy is making you talk like the internet (Aug 21, 2026) · Listen from 6:52
Podcasts
- TED Radio Hour · 1 episode
Episodes
How the creator economy is making you talk like the internetTED Radio Hour · Aug 21, 2026 · 50 min
Manoush Zomorodi talks with linguist and creator Adam Aleksic about how social media algorithms shape slang, influencer speech, identity and politics.