A woman wearing winter boots is walking on a heavily snow-covered road in Gdansk, Poland, on November 26, 2023, as winter weather hits northern Poland. The temperature is at -2 degrees Celsius and the roads are covered with several centimeters of snow. (Photo by Michal Fludra/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty Images
The phrase “cute winter boots” has been trending on TikTok, often appearing on videos that have very little to do with fashion—so what does the phrase really mean?
While TikTok users are relieved to see that the app is back online after a brief deactivation, the future of TikTok is still hazy, and creators are talking in code.
Talking about “winter boots” is the latest method by TikTokers to avoid shadow-banning, allowing creators to discuss political topics that might get suppressed by the algorithm.
Why Are TikTokers Talking About ‘Cute Winter Boots’?
After President Donald Trump’s halt of the TikTok ban, creators are concerned that the video-sharing platform might make a political pivot to embrace MAGA, and some are anticipating renewed censorship.
In a bid to avoid the predicted crackdown, users are recommending “cute winter boots” and keeping safe from “ice” in reference to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with “boots” translating to protest and pushback against the Trump administration.
The hashtag #cutewinterboots is being used as a tag for videos discussing the flurry of Executive Orders and actions from the White House, with creators using the hashtag to mark political discourse.
TikTok creators have long adapted to algorithmic censorship by talking in code to avoid flagged keywords, a phenomenon known as “algospeak.” For example, “dead” is referred to as “unalive,” and “porn” as “corn.”
This way of communicating has become increasingly prevalent across the web, even on non-censored platforms, as internet users begin to intuitively adopt algospeak.
One could compare algospeak to rhyming slang, which was supposedly developed as a way to develop community, or to evade the ears of the police.
In today’s digital landscape, the algorithm can act as the police, but it isn’t just there to censor and smother—it uplifts and recommends certain kinds of content.
In TikTok’s case, anything that can tempt users to go on an online shopping spree might be subject to an algorithmic boost.
Hence, the phrase “cute winter boots.”
After all, much of algospeak stems from the need to appease advertisers with brand-friendly phrasing. The intuitiveness of TikTok’s recommendation algorithm has a simple purpose—directing users to buy products.
However, the thing about code words, whether its algospeak or rhyming slang, is that the coded phrases are constantly being cracked open, their true contents revealed to the outside world.
The true meaning of “cute winter boots” is already an open secret. MAGA content creators have picked up on the trend and some have posted paranoid response videos discussing what the phrase really means.
TikTok users, however, have been doing this since the beginning—it’s a never-ending game of cat and mouse. There are still plenty of sincere winter fashion videos on TikTok that are actually discussing boots.
TikTokers engaging in algospeak must maintain a delicate balance between evading the algorithm while keeping the in-group informed on what is truly being said, without becoming so abstract that the conversation just turns to noise.
It remains to be seen if TikTok will crack down on the phrase, or if “cute winter boots” will last until spring.
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