Skier nailing the skibidi trick on the slopes
Cashing in on Gen Z Slang: Brain rot and the World of Crypto
Hey there! Ever heard of Skibidi, rizz, or bussin? They're not new languages, but they're close as internet slang takes off like a rocket. And the craziest part? This web jargon is driving a booming crypto market. Let's dive in and see how it all connects.
But first, grab a seat and buckle up. We're talking about brain rot, the 2024 Word of the Year, according to Oxford University Press. In Quebec, it's called "mind-numbing content," a term meaning meaningless, online content that could potentially alter cognitive abilities. While that sounds serious, brain rot is mainly used to describe internet memes and trends with a linguistic twist.
Now, let's venture to Italy, where brain rot is gaining some notoriety. It's leaving a trail of new expressions, AI-generated characters, like Ballerina Cappuccina and Bombardiro Crocodilo, in its wake. One American journalist, Taylor Lorenz, recently wrote about the hidden crypto market thriving behind all this digital buzz in her article, "The Hidden Crypto Market Behind Gen Z Slang." If you're interested, give it a read!
So how do internet slang and crypto mix? Well, once viral expressions become popular, they're often transformed into memecoins, a type of cryptocurrency named after memes or popular figures. Memecoins aren't a recent invention. Remember Dogecoin? It's been around since 2013, inspired by a viral Shiba Inu dog and a playful take on the word "dog."
Recently, the proliferation of memecoins is thanks to the incredible ease of creation. Platforms like pump.fun, founded in 2024, allow anyone to launch their own coin. While these virtual currencies can be volatile and susceptible to market manipulation, that doesn't stop investors from getting in on the action, lured by the promise of quick returns.
But the boom in language commercialization doesn't stop there. Sites like Polymarket let you bet on the occurrence of real events with words, like whether Trump will say specific phrases this week or how often the word "president" will be used in a White House press conference.
This linguistic speculation takes us to a hypermedia vigilance, where discussions around us become revolving around gambling. As words turn into business opportunities, their occurrence and popularity eclipse their meaning, causing us to ask: what's real anymore?
As our material conditions become more unstable, the multiple gambling opportunities offered by financial technology are growing. The internet is morphing into one giant casino, altering our relationship with the world by financializing the real. The very same internet, a war, a hockey game... Everything can now be used to create a betting market.
So, do we double down on the precarity or bail out? The choice is yours! But be warned: the house always wins in the long run!
Want to learn more?
- OQLF page: Office québécois de la langue française (oqlf.gouv.qc.ca)
- Article "The Hidden Crypto Market Behind Gen Z Slang" (in English): passionfruitmag.com
- Article "The phenomenon of 'italian brainrot': Genius of the absurd or sign that humanity is really lost?": thelocal.it/20230604/italian-brainrot-genius-of-the-absurd
- The rise of internet slang, such as 'Skibidi' and 'bussin', is driving a surge in the cryptocurrency market, connecting two seemingly disparate realms.
- Brain rot, a term for meaningless, online content, has been coined as the 2024 Word of the Year, altering cognitive abilities and impacting general-news discourse.
- In the world of technology, platforms like pump.fun allow for the easy creation of memecoins, cryptocurrencies named after memes or popular figures, leading to financial speculation and volatility in the market.
- While investigating the hidden crypto market behind Gen Z slang, journalist Taylor Lorenz uncovered how online slang is being commercialized and used to create betting opportunities on real events, merging lifestyle, finance, and technology.
- As the internet evolves into a giant casino, financial technology is reshaping our relationship with the world by financializing events, raising questions about the very nature of reality and the impact on our material conditions and lifestyle.
