Are we all getting a "TikTok accent"?

Social media is changing how we talk.

Embedded is your essential guide to what’s good on the internet, written by Kate Lindsay and edited by Nick Catucci.

Can someone reanimate me in 100 years and let me know if I was right? —Kate

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@dxc1#madelineargy #centralcee #uk #british #english #uktiktok

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Last week, creator Declan Shinnick reposted a video of popular UK TikTokker Madeline Argy. In it, he calls out how her once-prominent English accent has started sounding more American and theorizes that it’s a conscious effort to boost the engagement of her videos. People in his comments had a different idea.

“Feel like its code switching bc a lot of TikTok has a flat international school accent,” one commenter wrote, referring to the amalgamated accent that tends to result from students from various cultures attending international schools, which are often taught in English. Another commenter put it differently: “It’s the chronically online accent.”