Analyzing the Impact of Informal Language Variations on Audience Engagement: A Case Study of the ANTB Official YouTube Channel

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the informal language variations used in ANTB Official YouTube content and their impact on audience engagement. This study uses a descriptive qualitative approach with data sources in the form of spoken language in videos on the ANTB Official YouTube Channel. Data were collected through listening and note-taking techniques by carefully listening to videos, then transcribing speech containing informal language variations. Data analysis was carried out by classifying language variations based on speaker, usage, formality, and medium, as well as examining language functions including emotive, conative, poetic, and metalingual functions. The findings reveal that informal language variations—particularly slang expressions, abbreviations, colloquial greetings, and spontaneous conversational markers—dominate the interactional segments of the videos and function strategically to reduce social distance between creators and viewers. Videos that intensively employed informal expressions showed higher levels of audience engagement, reflected in increased comment frequency, interactive responses, and expressive feedback from viewers. Furthermore, the emotive and conative functions of language were found to be the most prominent in stimulating viewer participation, indicating that informal language serves not only as a stylistic choice but as a persuasive communicative strategy. The results show that the use of informal language, such as slang, abbreviations, familiar greetings, and spontaneous expressions, can create a relaxed and intimate communication atmosphere between creators and viewers. Informal language not only functions as a means of conveying messages, but also as a means of building emotional closeness, social solidarity, and increasing audience engagement through active interaction and response. Thus, informal language variations are proven to play an important role in strengthening the relationship between content creators and audiences in the context of digital communication. This research is expected to contribute to the study of sociolinguistics and digital communication, as well as become a reference for content creators in developing effective communication strategies on social media.