'Chat' and 'chat is this real' have exploded in popularity among young people

Shyla Carter likes using the word “chat” to address her friends all together, her friends individually, and sometimes her family members.

The term originally began as creators ironically asked their followers to identify obviously doctored or A.I.-generated content presented to them during their live streams.

In spaces like r/Teachers on Reddit, educators have shared hundreds of stories about the moniker taking over classrooms.

Peralta has noticed an issue among students where ideas of wit, humor, and aspirational personality are conflated with whoever has the top-liked comment.

The language of “getting ratioed” and “owned” are through lines of this, he said.

The question of responsibility and blame gets shifted from creators to parents to governments to tech companies.