In recent times, a new term has been gaining popularity online: “slop.” The term is used to describe something that is low quality and/or mass-produced; however, as time has passed and more people have begun to use it, it has lost most meaning.
The term gained popularity back in early 2024 when AI-generated media became more prevalent online. As a result of the backlash against the use of AI, the term “AI Slop” emerged. As time went on, the term evolved, in which it became more commonly known as just “slop.”
More recently, the term essentially lost most of its meaning. Most would use the term to describe really any kind of pattern they spotted, regardless of whether the subject is of poor quality. They assume that simply because the subject is seen often or is abundant that it is automatically low quality and, by extension, “slop.”
One example of this is the “Friendslop” drama. This year and last year, many new games came out built around a similar structure, with there being one to four players who must complete an objective or obstacle together to complete the game successfully. These games are all made by different developers; however, after many people noticed that there was a pattern of all the games following similar gameplay loops, people jumped to the conclusion that this new subgenre is “slop,” even though the games are objectively well-made.
While the term “Friendslop” is arguably slightly true because the games have been made recently and quickly with similar gameplay, they are still high-quality games. One of these is “Peak,” which is a game I personally have played with friends and had a blast doing so. The game is well-made, and not by any means would I consider it to be “slop.”
These examples bring us back to the point: the term has lost most of its meaning. A good example of acceptable usage of it is “AI Slop,” because it accurately describes media produced by AI. The term can also put people off from enjoying themselves, because if something is deemed to be “slop,” then someone willing to have fun and play a game with their friends, for example, will have a negative perception of something objectively good.
The term can be properly and effectively used to express an opinion about something, as it makes it easier to communicate the idea of something being under the category of “slop.” That’s the point of new terms or slang. They’re phrases that efficiently categorize something by using one or two words to make it easier for another person to understand what you are trying to say.
However, as is with most new terms, it becomes overused. With more people using those terms, they interpret them differently, and what was once the original term is now a husk that has lost its meaning. Soon after that, as more and more people use it, it’s eventually oversaturated and despised. That is what is happening to the term “slop:” the term itself is becoming “slop” of its own.
