August 1, 2025, by Brigitte Nerlich

Vibes: From new age to new algorithms

The other day I was talking with a friend and moaning about writer’s block. My friend said: “You are into words and metaphors and stuff. What’s one small language puzzle that’s been nagging at you lately?” I blurted out: ‘vibes’. My friend replied: “Write about that then”.

Lots of people have written about that word recently, especially it seems about ‘the politics of vibes’, but haven’t perhaps engaged in what one might call conceptual history. So, in this post I’ll sign-post some stages in the semantic development of that word as it has shifted from music to feelings to politics, from ‘good vibes, man’ to ‘vibes-based voting’, mirroring profound changes in culture and society.

To continue reading this post, please press here! (And don’t forget to subscribe to my new blog site!)

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Google+
• Share on LinkedIn