Adam Aleksic

“In this era of information overload, influencers are turning to the same floor-holding strategies we use to entertain toddlers.”
― Adam Aleksic, Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language

“Emphatic prosody is incredible for floor holding. Our brains like to be completely absorbed in an experience, and the lullaby-esque, lilting tones of the influencer accent scratch that itch while simultaneously enveloping us in a loop of engagement tactics.[2] Now that every other word is emphasized, we’re drawn in multiple times in each sentence. If your attention starts drifting, the added stress pulls you right back, making it harder to break away and easier to personally resonate with a video. Meanwhile, the vowel lengthening and overemphasis of the r sound are also textbook retention strategies because they keep us hanging on the elongated word. If you look at a children’s show like Sesame Street, you’ll see the exact same thing happening. The characters will frequently lengthen their vowels, not only to make it easier for kids to understand them, but also to continuously recapture their young audience’s attention. Hi, kiiids! Today we’re learning the alphabeeet! In this era of information overload, influencers are turning to the same floor-holding strategies we use to entertain toddlers.”
― Adam Aleksic, Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language