Social media is seemingly run by English-speaking influencers. The anglicisation of social media has meant that most famous and successful influencers are native English speakers. This partially makes sense. As the most spoken language in the world, English-language content has the greatest global accessibility.
However, the fact that only four per cent of people speak it as their first language may suggest that native foreign-language speakers feel compelled to speak in English to succeed online. Some influencers have built their brand on their ‘foreignness’ within an English-speaking setting. From a marketing perspective, this is not a bad move. Yet, for the creator themselves, this can feel performative and inauthentic. Catering for an English-speaking audience ultimately functions to uphold dominance of the English language on social media by debasing the status of the creator to their ‘foreignness’. Such issues beg the question: where do non-English speaking influencers belong online?
For foreign-born influencers, creating content in their native tongue has its financial risks. The importance of English-language content online is reflected in how funding is awarded to creators. The TikTok creator fund for example is only available in certain countries including the US, UK, and France, meaning many popular creators do not earn money through monetisation of videos. Norwegian TikTok creator couple Julie and Camilla have recently explained that the lack of a creator fund in Norway is forcing them to focus on other apps like Snapchat, which pays Norwegian creators. The risk of ‘foreign’ based influencers leaving such platforms in a similar fashion could result in the erasure of international voices from social media.
As a result, platforms are prioritising the English-speaking versions of social media. The Guardian reported that Facebook is less effective in managing misinformation on Spanish-language social media, suggesting that there is less concern for Spanish-speaking users.
However, the dominance of the English language online is being challenged by creators, while fitting into a larger social and political issue. In the US, Hispanic creators are celebrating their bilingualism through switching between Spanish and English in their content. Not only does this enable more people to engage with their platform, but also, as El Pais argues, functions as an act of resistance. Although famed for its linguistic diversity, the speaking of Spanish has become widely targeted by far-right groups in the US. Trump’s administration, for example, deleted the Spanish-language version of the White House website almost immediately after being inaugurated. Content creators have taken to social media to express their pride in speaking Spanish, especially as a reflection of the importance of immigration to the US’s historical canon.
Yet, it is important to note that many of the most followed people online are non-English speakers. On TikTok the most followed person is the Italian-Senegalese creator Khaby Lame. Similarly, trends beyond social media suggest the increasing popularity of foreign-language culture, seen in the success of musicians like Bad Bunny and films like Parasite. Therefore, can we expect a change in the experiences of non-English speaking users online sooner rather than later?
Photo by Luis Desiro on Unsplash.