TikTok for dummies
CottageCore, decorative faux artichokes, and algospeak
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We’ve had a few long posts recently, so we’re keeping this one short and sweet.
One side effect of researching teens and social media is that you quickly begin to feel old and out-of-touch. To illustrate, here are a few excerpts from research interviews I did with teens a couple years ago:
Teen: I think that's just looking for clout, you know what I mean?
Me: What do you mean?
Teen: It's the best way to get clout, you know what I mean?
Me: …what's clout?
Teen: You... you don't know what clout is?
Me: [laughs] I have no idea.
Teen: Clout is like... clout is like everyone's attention, you know what I mean?
Me: Oh okay.
Teen: You want people looking at you, you know what I mean? You know that song, "Do anything for clout"?
Me: What did you say?
Teen: By Cardi B?
Me: I don't know it.
Teen: Oh no! Okay…
At this point, the teen eyed me as if I were a stray puppy. Such pity. It was 2019, people! I didn’t know what clout was. Please reserve your judgements.
And another one:
Teen: So like, I used to be in that community and now like, all of my followers are usually ghost followers. So no one really… they like my art and stuff, but I’m not getting comments or anything.
Me: Mhm. What are ghost—what are ghost friends?
Teen: Oh, ghost followers?
Me: Oh, ghost followers.
Teen: …Ghost followers are just people that follow you, but they don’t “like” or comment or anything
Me: Oh okay…
Working with teens is a humbling experience.
…which brings us to TikTok
These days, nothing provides this good, old-fashioned, you-might-as-well-be-my-grandmother slap in the face like TikTok.
So, here’s a quick roundup of TikTok facts and trends to keep all of us techno sapiens, young and old, in the loop.
The Stats
TikTok has over 1 billion monthly active users
In 2021, TikTok had more downloads (700 million) than any other app in the app store.
Despite making me feel old, TikTok is not just for the young! Here’s the age breakdown of users:
25% ages 10-19
22% ages 20-29
22% ages 30-39
20% ages 40-49
11% ages 50+
Although TikTok users range in age, the majority of its content creators (53%) are ages 18-24
TikTok’s most popular influencer is Charli D’Amelio, who has 136 million followers. She made $17.5 million last year.
Algospeak
I cannot stop thinking about this Washington Post article by Taylor Lorenz. It describes “algospeak,” or words TikTok users have adopted to avoid downranking by the TikTok algorithm. Algospeak is shaping our language online and offline.
An example I see in my own work: TikTok’s algorithm is thought to censor content that uses words like “suicide” and “death,” so users—particularly younger ones—have started replacing it with the word “unalive” (e.g., I’m going to commit unalive or I want to unalive myself). The use of “unalive” has become a cultural phenomenon in itself, a centerpiece of that particular brand of everything-is-going-to-hell-so-what’s-the-point Gen Z humor.
TikTok aesthetics
A number of niche “aesthetics” (highly stylized visual trends) play out on TikTok, sometimes called “cores”. These aren’t just about clothes—they often involve music, visual surroundings, and actual lifestyle choices.
Take CottageCore1, for example, an aesthetic involving such items as flowing dresses, bucolic rural scenes, Taylor Swift’s Folklore, and baking one’s own sourdough2. Some argue that this romanticization of a simple, homegrown existence rose in contrast to the stress of the pandemic.
Other cores include:
E-Girl and E-Boy. A new take on grunge (the e stands for electronic). Lots of chunky boots, leather, chain necklaces. Middle parts. So many middle parts.
Normcore. Mom jeans with sneakers. Oversized sweatshirts. Strong ‘90s vibes.
Dark Academia. Honestly, don’t totally get this one. But according to this article, this aesthetic involves: “classic literature and music, candles and typewriters…preppy looks are given a slightly gothic twist…reminiscent of school uniforms.” For what it’s worth, I have encountered exactly zero candles in my job in actual academia.
Surprising TikTok hashtags
#CleanTok (36.9 billion views): As described by Jessica Grose for the New York Times, it is one of the app’s most popular hashtags and involves “the tidy, satisfying world of another mom cleaning and then restocking her spotless refrigerator with a colorful array of fruits, vegetables and adorable mini pepperoni.”
#BookTok (51 billion views): Book recommendations! On TikTok! Maybe the kids are alright after all.
#FYP (23,254 billion views!): This stands for “For You Page.” The FYP is the landing page every user sees when they open TikTok, with videos selected by the algorithm.3 Users often append #fyp on their posts, hoping it will increase the chances that they will show up on other users’ FYPs (and go viral). This does not, it turns out, actually work.
A final fun(?) fact
The most mind-blowing stat I came across in my research was this: Each month, any one user of TikTok in the U.S. spends an average of 24 hours watching content. That’s one full day each month devoted to TikTok.
Call me cheugy,4 but that seems like a lot.
How CottageCore am I? You’re likely wondering. Not to worry. Buzzfeed has created a handy quiz to help you uncover what percentage of your personal aesthetic can be considered CottageCore. I did this quiz (in the name of research, of course), and have learned that I am 49% CottageCore (Buzzfeed tells me “it’s not your whole aesthetic or anything”).
In recent weeks, the “Coastal Grandmother” aesthetic has taken TikTok by storm. Think: chunky sweaters, neutrals, loose-fitting linen button-downs. Caftans. The 2003 film Something’s Gotta Give. Oprah. Ina Garten. Wine. Here’s a list of items you should purchase, according to Country Living, if you’d like to kickstart your coastal grandmother lifestyle. Item #7: Decorative Faux Artichokes. I’m sorry, what is happening?
I almost never use TikTok, so the algorithm doesn’t yet seem to have registered my preferences. When I opened up the app this evening (again, for research purposes) one of TikTok’s top “suggested searches” for me was “Candy Corn”? I feel relatively confident that that my aesthetic is 0% candy corn. Okay, 1% at most. (2% around Halloween).
According to the New York Times, cheugy is a TikTok-amplified Gen Z term “used, broadly, to describe someone who is out of date or trying too hard.”
A quick survey
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I am 48% Cottagecore, but I think my score was artificially deflated because I don't have any hobbies.