QuaranTime: TikTok
By Cindy Su
With over 800 million users, TikTok has made its way into many communities, including Phillips Exeter Academy. Launched in 2016, Tik Tok soon became one of the most downloaded apps in the US. It is used to create short videos of dance, lip-sync, comedy and more. The tremendous amount of active users quickly raises creators to fame.
The app’s algorithm placed senior David Kim right on the “For You” pages of many users, which allowed Kim to go viral. After seeing an article in the Wall Street Journal about the growth of the app, Kim downloaded TikTok in the summer of 2019 to see what it was all about. When he posted a video that poked fun at people getting TikTok famous, he garnered over 33,000 views. His next post received 20,000 views.
Though he may not accumulate as many views on his current videos, under the handle, @davidtykim, Kim continues to make a variety of videos whenever he feels inspired—he aims to make people laugh by performing a variety of skits and dances. “Being in quarantine definitely gives me more time to be on TikTok, even though it’s a very unhealthy addiction,” Kim said.
After downloading the app as a dare from a friend, senior Patricia Fitzgerald created a TikTok account in 2018 under the username @duolingoxxbird. After multiple viral videos, Fitzgerald now has 86.5k followers to her name. Fitzgerald’s claim to fame was a POV or “Point of View” video that today has accrued over 1.7 million views. “I somehow ended up in group chats with people like @dannyygarrison and @torvas,” Fitzgerald reflected.
“I don't want to be a so-called TikTok star,” Fitzgerald said. “People I talk to who have over 500k followers are obsessed with views and sponsorships, and I don't really care about that,” she said. “I've deleted Tiktok three times this semester, only to download it a day later because I have nothing else to do. It's very time-consuming.”
Upper Veronica Choulga has amassed over 390,000 followers on the app since she initially joined in December 2018. Primarily making TikToks during breaks and in the summer, she posts a variety of videos, first showcasing her drawing talent and then shifting to zodiac based content.
In these videos, she incorporates trending dances or sounds, landing herself on the “For You” page of many, including fellow students. “It was pretty funny for random Exonians to come [up to me], for example, in the Science Building and say, ‘Oh yeah, I saw you on my ‘For You’ page,’” Choulga said. “I know their names and they know mine, but we don't know anything other than that, so it’s sometimes awkward but fun.”
Her account has steadily grown since she started and has amassed over 12.5 million likes on her videos. Since she reached 200,000 followers, she has also found herself receiving sponsorship requests. “Different song artists would reach out and Venmo me for me to promote the song,” Choulga said. “I’m also getting some face masks and a phone case so I have to use it in my video.”
However, even though being “TikTok famous” has opened new doors for Choulga, she also finds herself facing bits of creator burnout as well. “I haven't really been doing as many [TikToks] because even though it’s still fun, it feels a bit like homework sometimes,” Choulga said. “I wouldn't call it a burden because it's still interesting, just like homework can be interesting, but that constant necessity to do it somewhat sucks the novelty out. ”
Exonians are having fun on other platforms as well during the quarantine. After watching other creators for a long time, prep Yasmin Salerno officially started posting on her channel last month.
Like many others, Salerno was looking for something to do with all her newfound free time, and making videos has kept her busy. “I think it's one of the things that has helped me from going crazy inside my house,” Salerno said. “I remember the week that I posted my first video, I was so bored in my house all day, so I spent two days filming my first video and editing also took forever, but I just didn’t get bored editing… [I realized] okay, this is what I want to do.”
Salerno has dabbled in a variety of videos so far, including cooking, lifestyle, and makeup videos, filming them on her phone, and then editing with iMovie on her computer. She posts on Sundays and Wednesdays and has received lots of support from her family and friends. “I'm still a little surprised actually at how many people said that they really liked my videos,” Salerno said.
Exonians, it seems, can truly succeed everywhere—even on TikTok.