TikTok is Breeding “Influencer Voice”

People have started noticing that digital creators — especially those on TikTok — have adopted a unique style of speaking that’s being dubbed “influencer voice.”

Why It Hits: Shifting dialects have been a part of American media for over a century (mid-Atlantic accent in movies from the 1940s, anyone?), but the prevalence across social media may be the first time in history when the code-switching has happened at such a scale.

Behind the Curtain: British singer-songwriter Cassyette has put “influencer voice” in the spotlight after questioning — in a TikTok video, of course — why everybody seems to be talking like that.

Here’s what that sounds like, per Fast Company:

• Ending sentences with a questioning tone
• Using vocal fry (where speech dips into a low, gravelly register)
• Uptalk, which involves raising the pitch at the end of sentences as though asking a question

The Future: So, why are people talking like that? It could be classic conformity (this is what successful creators do, so why reinvent the wheel), or it could make it feel like you’re putting less effort into something than you really are (wanting to make sure you come across as “authentic”).

But a study out of UC San Diego and Radboud University found that there may be a benefit to using “influencer voice.” The uptalk “successfully grabs our attention, as it implicitly invites the listener to confirm that they are listening.” Questions — even when they really aren’t questions — coax engagement… and that’s exactly what social media is all about.