Now Reading
You’re Not Hearing Things — ‘Influencer Voice’ Is Real, and We All Have It

You’re Not Hearing Things — ‘Influencer Voice’ Is Real, and We All Have It

Spend five minutes on TikTok, and you’ll notice something unsettling. It’s not just the endless de-influencing videos or the unhinged beauty hauls — it’s the fact that everyone sounds the same.

No matter the topic, whether it’s an emotional breakup story, a geopolitical crisis or an in-depth analysis of Trader Joe’s snacks, the delivery is identical. A slightly nasal, vaguely detached monotone. A rhythmic cadence where every sentence ends? Like a question? Even when it’s definitely not?

Welcome to the era of influencer voice, a vocal phenomenon so widespread that even you have probably slipped into it without realizing. It’s the verbal equivalent of an Instagram filter — smoothed out, aesthetically pleasing, a little bit fake but technically still human.

If you’ve ever caught yourself explaining something in the exact same intonation as your favorite TikToker, congratulations: you, too, have been influenced.

Why Do We All Sound Like This?

Somewhere along the way, sounding like an actual human stopped being the goal. The internet is loud, chaotic and oversaturated. The easiest way to grab someone’s attention isn’t by being original — it’s by sounding like the people they already trust. One person goes viral, their speech pattern becomes familiar, and suddenly, we’re all speaking in the same auto-generated influencer dialect.

TikTok has accelerated this shift at breakneck speed. Unlike Instagram, where aesthetics reign supreme, TikTok rewards vibes. A certain way of speaking signals you’re in the club. The exaggerated vowels, the slow, soothing delivery — it’s a vocal cue that says I’m relatable. You can trust me. I’m just like you.

It’s also a defense mechanism. The soft, sing-songy cadence makes everything sound chill, even when it’s not. If someone is casually explaining the stock market collapse in the same tone they use to rank oat milks, it takes the edge off. We’re all just here to have a good time, right?

What This Says About Us

Once upon a time, people actively tried to stand out. Now, we’re subconsciously shaping our voices to blend in. That’s… bleak?

This phenomenon is particularly common among young women, which isn’t shocking. Women’s speech patterns have always been scrutinized, ridiculed and policed. Vocal fry and uptalk became cultural battlegrounds in the 2010s, with men writing entire think pieces about why millennial women’s voices were so annoying. So what did Gen Z do? They took that criticism, cranked it to 11 and made it the default setting.

But at what cost? At some point, do we flatten ourselves into algorithm-friendly monotony? If everyone sounds the same, does anything stand out anymore?

How to Reclaim Your Voice

Here’s a fun challenge: the next time you explain something, don’t use influencer cadence. Just… talk. See what your realvoice sounds like. Maybe it’s deeper than you expected. Maybe it’s sharper. Maybe it has a weird regional twang you forgot about. Maybe you hate it, because you’ve trained yourself to sound like someone else for so long.

That’s the thing about social media — it makes everything feel like a performance. And sure, mimicry is normal (we’ve been picking up accents from our peers since forever), but when an entire generation starts defaulting to the same whiny monotone, it’s worth asking why.

So if you catch yourself slipping into influencer voice, take a breath. You don’t need to sound like everyone else to be heard.

And that’s, like, a whole thing?

© 2023 RELEVANT Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Scroll To Top

You’re reading our ad-supported experience

For our premium ad-free experience, including exclusive podcasts, issues and more, subscribe to

Plans start as low as $2.50/mo