Users might post a video of themselves yapping, talking at length about a given topic — perhaps something they feel moved to rant about or a subject in which they are an armchair expert. Or someone might be called a yapper in the comments of a video (whether the speaker intended to yap or not).
Being labelled a yapper isn’t necessarily a compliment, but on a platform built on talk, it isn’t an insult either.
Some creators have cheerfully embraced the moniker. Last summer, the TikTokers @bag_and_cj became known for videos in which they react to other TikTok videos with rambling commentary. The duo was named Yip and Yap by their fans. (An occasional third participant is known as Yop.)
On a podcast in February, ESPN host Tim MacMahon invoked the term in a less flattering context when he floated it as a potential factor in the Dallas Mavericks’ decision to trade Grant Williams. “I would say one of the ways that Grant Williams rubbed people the wrong way — the yap, yap, yapping — obviously, that’s kind of part of it with him,” MacMahon said.
Reesa Teesa, who recently captivated TikTok with a multipart saga detailing the ins and outs of her dramatic marriage, may be a prime example of the form. She captivated millions with a tale that stretched over more than six hours.
Jess Rauchberg, an assistant professor of communication technologies at Seton Hall University, said she wasn’t surprised to see so-called yapping becoming more common, given TikTok’s recent emphasis on longer videos. Users can upload videos up to 10 minutes long, and the platform is testing videos as long as 30 minutes, according to TechCrunch.
Though it wasn’t always referred to as such, yapping has long been a hallmark of social media, where content creators, particularly on YouTube, are known to film longer videos, potentially allowing for more advertising revenue.
The term has cropped up more recently as “a way to poke fun at these long-form ways of sharing ideas,” Rauchberg said. “I also see it as a way that creators are self-internalising their biggest fears of content creation, that dark side of content creation: What if I’m not likeable? What if I’m saying too much or I say the wrong thing?”
The word “yap” dates to the early 17th century, said Nicole Holliday, an assistant professor of linguistics at Pomona College. It originally was used to describe the sounds made by dogs. (In recent decades, the word has popped up in hip-hop.)
“Particularly like small, high-pitched dog,” Holliday said. “Which can, maybe, give you an idea of the way in which this word would be gendered.”
Not every yapper is a woman, but much online yapping content is made by or about women. Some female users say they are reclaiming a gender stereotype by identifying with the term.
“I don’t think it’s a negative trait to be yapping all the time,” Limas said. “I think the play on the word ‘yapper’ that is becoming more popular is a way to take that power back, a way of saying that it’s OK to be talkative.”
Not everyone feels moved to give a new name to a timeless idea. “Yap, yapping, yapper. What on the earth do these words even mean? I feel too old suddenly,” one user posted on X, formerly Twitter, this month.
The good news for that user, according to Holliday, is that “yapping” — the term, not the tendency to be chatty — will probably be on its way out just as quickly as it arrived. New slang terms rely on “uncool people” never finding out about them, she said, and “the problem with TikTok is uncool people can see you talking in public.”
“We have to keep outrunning them,” she joked.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Written by: Madison Malone Kircher
©2024 THE NEW YORK TIMES
