This week we’re honing in on TikTok, breaking down some of the trends you’re seeing all over your FYP. Whilst the very nature of the FYP means it is subjective, and bends to content you or your peers seem to be engaging with or predicts you will like, there are some trends which transgress the algorithm to just go full-on viral. Think Bella Poarch’s face dancing in 2020, or the early days when 90% of the app was dancing to Supalonely by Benee.
Now though, the algorithm is getting more and more twisted and TikToks are getting more and more, well, weird. If you’re after consistency, allow us to plug our own TikTok – keeping you up to date on all things fashion, culture and news. If not though, let’s dive in – and be warned, 2 minutes does have the tendency to turn into 2 hours on the app.
IS ADDISON RAE ABOUT TO BECOME A FULL-BLOWN POP STAR?
Addison Rae’s debut single, Obsessed, went semi-viral because of who she is – but also because of her dancing in the accompanying music video. However, since then, the creator has focused on her different creative endeavours – whether that’s her beauty line, or acting in Netflix’s gender-swapped reboot, He’s All That.
Now though, a leaked snippet of a new song, titled To Die For, has gone viral for all the right reasons: it just slaps. People are out in their droves showing support, with some hailing the song as a contender for the charts, or to dethrone some of the current pop girlies for its infectious minimal melody and ingenious lyrics. She’s even got Shygirl banging it for Berghain pres. See below.
THE ‘WHAT ARE YOU WEARING’ MEME HAS BECOME SELF-AWARE
A few months back, your For You Page may have been flooded with various iterations of the same video: people being stopped in the street to ask where their outfit was from, how much it cost, or what they were listening to. After being done and done again, this developed into the early parodies – people saying they were listening to 14 hours of white noise, or a grizzly true crime podcast whilst skipping through a sunny street somewhere.
Recently though, this has further evolved into people being tapped on the shoulder for dropping something (or the like), only for them to launch into whatever they’re listening to or breaking down their outfit unprompted. Check it out here.
PLACES THAT SEEM ‘UNREAL’
Sometimes TikTok gets a bit much. So when there’s a trend that cuts through the noise, it’s a bit of a welcome break. One example of these which has taken off recently is a compilation of clips filmed ‘when life started to feel unreal’. From the monotonous inside of a long plane journey to a sunset-soaked street in Europe, this is a wholesome trend we wouldn’t mind seeing more of, to be frank.
LANA’S STARGIRL VERSE (& DANCE)
By far the most popular of this selection is the dance trend going around to Lana Del Rey’s verse on The Weeknd’s Stargirl interlude – which sees creators and their camera-people recreate a dance trend. Making claws to camera on ‘cat’, holding a finger to their lips and then shaking it out whilst being filmed 360-style, it’s hard to find a creator who hasn’t participated in this one. See a selection below.
More on CULTED
See also: SOCIAL MEDIA & SEX WORK: THE GEN Z ICONS SHATTERING GLASS CEILINGS
