Have you ever experienced “influencer voice?” As we know, the creator economy is growing. However, as it grows, experts and fellow creators have pointed out that influencers are all speaking in a certain way. But is it a coincidence, or are creators making their own dialect?
In a viral TikTok, US-based creator Cassyette notes that influencers tend to speak with an upward inflection at the end. It sounds as if they’re asking a question.
“Guys serious question, is it just me, or is there this new influencer voice that English influencers specifically use?” the creator asks.
“It sounds like I’m asking you a question, which might be really confusing, but I’m actually not,” she said, minimicking the voice. “I’m just going up at the end of every sentence. Like, what is this voice?”
The clip has been watched 1.2 million times.
@cassyette No shade am I missing a trick?
♬ original sound – cassyette
According to experts, the technical term for the influencer voice is “upspeak.”
“Broadly, this upspeak with talking does have a tendency to suggest hesitancy, questioning, less-than-assured tones, youthfulness,” Laura Purcell Verdun, a speech therapist and communication coach told NPR.
Moreover, TikToker Adam Aleksic, who is known on the app as The Etymology Nerd, describes the influencer accent as “a prestige dialect on the internet that also helps with platform retention.”
“When viewers are listening, they want to keep listening to people when they have [an] uptick in their voice.”
Whether you’ve heard the term “influencer speak” before or not, there’s a good chance you might already be using this inflection in your videos.
