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I have heard a couple of times now the て form of a verb followed by て (or
perhaps it was って?) used as an imperative. Some examples are 見てて and 黙ってて,
when asking someone to look and be quiet respectively.

I am also aware of [this
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/948/what-does-the-
final-%E3%81%A6-in-%E5%BE%85%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%A6-signify), but in that
circumstance, the listener is being asked to "stay waiting" as I understand.
However, in the case of 見てて, this interpretation seems odd when all that's
needed is a quick look. (A child was asking the father to look at a toy)

I assume the phrase is still a contraction of 見ていて, but how should I
understand it, and what is the difference between this and 見て? What about
other verbs?

**Edit**

[Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgbQCbTYX3U&feature=youtu.be&t=5m53s)
is an example usage of 見てて in a similar situation.
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translation て-form
て form followed by て, 「見てて」
I believe that it is simply a more emphatic way to give the very same command.
The politeness of this inflection seems to be dependent on the tone in which
the command is given (perhaps rank/level plays a role too). For instance, your
two examples seem pretty neutral, but I have also heard things like:

EDIT: My first example was erroneous and actually an example of the 出て行って
contraction which translates as "get out and stay out!", and can apparently be
further shortened to 出てって

> 待ってて - Wait! ~ "Hey guys... waiiit!" (spoken with more of a annoyed whine)

As such, this seems to be more of a spoken construct, allowing for tone to
help convey the fully intended "politness."

EDIT: I think it does make the command come across more as a DEMAND; not doing
what is asked in a 「〜てて」 command will likely lead to unfavorable outcomes (the
kid with the toy would cry and pester the father, the person that requested
you to shut up will get more frustrated as you continue to talk, etc).

EDIT 2: I found [this article which has an
example](http://www.japaneseammo.com/differences-
between-%E3%81%BE%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6-and-%E3%81%BE%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%A6-brb-
in-japanese/) comparing and contrasting two sentences, one using 見て and the
other 見てて:

> 「見て！あの雲、ハートの形してる！」 Look! That cloud is shaped like heart!
>
> 「すぐ戻るから、テレビでも見てて。」 I’ll be right back, so watch TV or something.

But still, this doesn't quite fit with what I imagine/interpret that little
girl is saying in your video... although perhaps it translates to something
like

> 「見てて」 Hey, look at this/me/it for a minute, please...
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I think you have almost grasped the "tournure" and I have few to contribute,
but...

> I assume the phrase is still a contraction of 見ていて

That's correct. As for the example, the girl in the film says おとう、見てて. That
corresponds to "Look at me (doing this), Dad."

> it would mean something like "check out this website (and continue doing so
> for a nontrivial period of time)"? Similarly, 黙ってて would mean "be quiet, and
> stay quiet"?

Yes, I guess so. Of course, you need context to be more precise, but I can
hardly think of other possibilities.
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