“It makes me feel like I need a disclaimer because I feel like it makes you seem unprofessional to have these weirdly spelled words in your captions,” she said, “especially for content that's supposed to be serious and medically inclined.”
Where's the balance for professionalism with respect to dodging the algorithmic filters for serious health-related conversations online?
Where does the line exist for moving from coded language into the space of dog whistles and a "wink and a nod"?
Do these exist in all cultures?
What level is contextual?
PolitiFact - People are using coded language to avoid social media moderation. Is it working?<br /> by Kayla Steinberg<br /> November 4, 2021
Moran said the codes themselves may end up limiting the reach of misinformation. As they get more cryptic, they become harder to understand. If people are baffled by a unicorn emoji in a post about COVID-19, they might miss or dismiss the misinformation.
"The coded language is effective in that it creates this sense of community," said Rachel Moran, a researcher who studies COVID-19 misinformation at the University of Washington. People who grasp that a unicorn emoji means "vaccination" and that "swimmers" are vaccinated people are part of an "in" group. They might identify with or trust misinformation more, said Moran, because it’s coming from someone who is also in that "in" group.
A shared language and even more specifically a coded shared language can be used to create a sense of community or define an in group identity.
It’s this combination, the fetish for strength and the idealization of racially coded innocence, that has historically led authoritarian movements to subvert the rule of law in the name of order.