People are using the R

Once pushed to the margins of acceptable language thanks to campaigns like "Spread the Word to End the Word," the R-word all but disappeared from common use by the early 2010s. But in 2024, it seems to be making a troubling comeback, particularly on social media platforms like X. This reemergence is more than a linguistic relapse — it's a reflection of how digital platforms are reshaping cultural norms in a way that seems to prioritize engagement over all else.

"⁤⁤Its increasing use stands in the face of decades of progress," Katy Neas, the CEO of The Arc, a group whose work focuses on promoting and protecting the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, told Mashable. "⁤⁤People with disabilities have made it clear: this term is hurtful and unacceptable. ⁤⁤Yet, [the] persistence of this slur shows we still have work to do."

As social media platforms like X allow offensive language to spread under the guise of free speech, the lines between humor and harm blur, revealing how digital spaces have become battlegrounds for societal norms. As if to illustrate just how difficult it is to tackle an issue online, there are very few useful tools that track harmful content on social media.Google Trends can tell us how often a word is searched, but it can't tell us how often a word is used on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or X. And while the data is hard to pin down, there's plenty of anecdotal evidence that the word might be on the rise.

In the trailer for a comedy series starring Brian Jordan Alvarez, two teachers comment about how kids "aren't into being woke" anymore and that they're "saying the R-word again." Posts using the word on X routinely get thousands of likes, bookmarks, and reposts. And "edgy" "comics" get hundreds of thousands of views on videos using the word in their sets. The comeback of the word not only highlights the failure of content moderation but also a broader shift in how technology amplifies toxic behavior, undermining the work of advocates who have fought to create a more inclusive world.

Over the years, there have been movements to eradicate the word — which Nease says has "long been weaponized to demean and marginalize people with disabilities" — from our vocabulary. For instance, in 2009, the Special Olympics launched a campaign called "Spread The Word to End the Word," aimed at raising awareness about the damaging effects of the R-word and encouraging people to pledge to stop using it. Over time, the campaign has made a significant impact in schools. 

"'Spread The Word' is a hugely popular activity for our students to get involved in because it is very tangible, it is very specific, and kids have a lot of experience with this word and with bullying and teasing and inappropriate language in general," Andrea Cahn, the Senior Vice President of the Unified Champion Schools at the Special Olympics who works with the Spread the Word campaign, told Mashable. "So it's something they can take real action on and see the change."

Eventually, students began giving feedback that the campaign needed to evolve, Cahn said. They reported that the R-word was rarely used anymore and wanted to shift the focus toward other ways to promote inclusion while still maintaining the original mission.

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A decade after "Spread The Word" launched, there's renewed concern about the slur's resurgence, primarily driven by social media. It could be a reflection of the culture at large — people seem to be saying the word with abandon in real life, too, perhaps influenced by the church of Shane Gillis — or that anonymous posting is getting out of hand.

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"Because the tenor of social media is to be provocative and tease and [be] mean-spirited, the humor mixed with the meanness seems to be like this toxic cocktail that's very popular," Cahn said, noting that the rise of user-generated content has changed the way offensive language is used. 

And it's true. Content moderation often changes the way we speak as we look for alternatives to some words (seggs for sex or unalive for dead) that we fear could be impacted by the search algorithm. However, the R-word is not always affected by the algorithm.

Search for the word on X, and you'll find people trying to be funny by using the slur. "you are not 'demure' or 'mindful' you're r