A TikToker, who claims to have COVID-19, filmed herself without a face mask in an airport.
In the video, TikTok user @420charlise69 seems to be one of the only people in an airport without a mask on as she waits for her flight. "Little do all these ppl know i have COVID-19," the video's caption reads.
She pans the camera across the room, filming her Louis Vuitton luggage; strangers, who are wearing masks; and her family, some of whom are not wearing a mask, either.
The video is set to "Can't Stop Singing" from the Teen Beach Movie.
Viewers are criticizing the TikToker in the video's comments section.
"It’s not a joke. There are actual people dying out there!!" the top comment reads.
Some are even posting the contact information for her alleged high school.
She posted a follow-up video addressing the criticism. In it, she claimed "the flu is worse than covid," a common—but misinformed—argument among people who refuse to listen to health professionals. She also told critics to "get off (her) ass" because she is "not sick." It is unclear if she lied about having the coronavirus or does have it and is asymptomatic—people in roughly 15% to 45% of coronavirus cases are believed to be asymptomatic, meaning they have no symptoms but can still pass on the illness. In follow-up videos, the TikToker backtracks, saying she doesn't have COVID-19.
"You guys are making it a big deal," she said. "I get it ppl are dying and its so sad and not funny... idk why you guys keep saying i think its funny tf... its a tiktok so calm down."
She claimed she did not wear a mask because she was only around family members.
"No need to flip out on me and saying im the only reason ppl are getting sick when theres SOOO much more people are flying and doing things also," she said.
She later duetted a critical viral video with a video of herself wearing a mask in the airport. It appears she was traveling to Cabo for a vacation. Internet sleuths figured out the hotel she is allegedly staying at by watching her videos and are now calling to complain about the "girl with covid staying at their hotel."
The TikToker seems unfazed, however, making videos of herself dancing and flicking off her "fans." She also appeared to double-down on her anti-mask stance in her latest video.
President Donald Trump ratcheted up his rhetoric against TikTok over the weekend, when his campaign ran several ads on Facebook claiming that the popular app was spying on users for China.
The ads all direct Facebook users to a survey asking whether TikTok should be banned in the country and a form to give personal information to the campaign.
"TikTok has been caught red handed by monitoring what is on your phone’s clipboard. Do you think we should ban TikTok? Sign the petition NOW!" the ads read.
The ad blitz from Trump comes amid the administration saying it was considering banning the app in the United States.
The president's Facebook page pushed out numerous variations of similar ads over the weekend that were critical of TikTok, according to Facebook's ad library. The ads were first spotted by New York Times reporter Taylor Lorenz.
Questions have been raised about data security on TikTok because it is owned by a China-based company. TikTok has defended itself against those concerns, saying U.S. user data is stored within the country.
Trump's interest in pushing against the app also comes as its users have repeatedly made him a target for trolling.
Most notably, TikTok users and K-Pop fans flooded the Trump campaign's sign-up sheet for his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, making it appear like there was much more interest in attending the event than there really was.
The attendance at the rally was much lower than the campaign had bragged about beforehand.
But there have been other instances of TikTokers messing with Trump.
TikTok users accused of grooming children on the app faced lenient punishment and in many cases were only suspended for a week, according to the Sun.
Advocates for children’s safety against child abuse have called for TikTok to be banned in the U.K. after the Sun reported in February that pedophiles use the platform to groom children as young as 8 years old.
A year ago, the Sun revealed how videos of children in school clothes were garnering perverted comments, which is only part of the larger problem of older users messaging young children on the app.
An internet child safety expert told the Sun at the time that the app was a “magnet for pedophiles."
But TikTok is seemingly doing very little to address ongoing concerns. According to the latest report, users who were banned for messaging sexually explicit messages to children were allowed back on the app after a week.
The users were also allowed to keep their same account, which means that they could likely still access messages and maintain contact with underage users.
If a user was reported for an offense a second time, they received a ban for a month. If they were reported a third time, they were finally banned from the app.
The Daily Dot reached out to TikTok and will update this report with the company's response.
About one in every 10 messages that were reported were adults sending inappropriate messages to children, according to former employees who spoke with the Sun.
Meanwhile, it appears that even the moderators faced difficulties in responding to reports of adults inappropriately interacting with children.
Former moderators told the Sun that instead of responding to every report, they were asked to monitor only up to 1,000 videos per day. The Daily Dot couldn't independently verify how many reports came in per day, but the app has been downloaded 2 billion times.
Another former moderator told the Sun that even though the rule was to view a flagged content within 15 minutes, flagged content would often remain unchecked for days.
If you scrolled Twitter this weekend, you might have happened upon some drama involving the hexing of the moon. Yes, that moon.
TikTok witches were allegedly to blame. According to Twitter user @heyyadoraa, these witches were more inexperienced or misguided, and allegedly also hexed the Fae, better known as faeries.
Hexing the moon or the Fae is considered bad form, and heyyadoraa came back later with some “new info” about who might have been involved, pointing to posts on a witchcraft Discord.
Elsewhere, a post on the witchcraft subreddit claimed the hex originated with a “small coven of 4 ‘baby witches’ that are just trying to ‘prove a point’ (which point? idk).” But their identities weren't revealed. The poster added: “The moon wasn't really affected by the hex (obviously) but it did anger some deities, so they will get what they deserve I guess.”
This is certainly jarring to read (on the anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, no less) but heyyadoraa added that “not all witches on tiktok are like this.” Indeed, a vocal majority of WitchTok pushed back against the alleged hex. User chaoticwitchaunt posted a video lamenting the fate of the hexers, but then followed up, saying she was sorry for not helping alleviate the “hysteria" around it.
Other witches offered proof that the hex had ripple effects on recent offerings to gods like Apollo and Artemis, who are tied to the sun and moon, respectively. But hexing the moon, according to elder witch ravenmunin0, is “not a thing.” That was confirmed by fellow elder thatonebluntwitch, who added that it might have instead summoned “legions” of demons.
She tells the Daily Dot that, in her experience, baby witches "are very willing to learn and ask for sources on where to begin and truly learn the history of witchcraft. But, as it can be for all groups, there are also those who want to take the fast track." That includes beginners "who immediately want to work with deities and other entities."
There is a code of ethics in witchcraft. Her advice to those looking to hex or curse: "Do not cast any spell that you do not know how to reverse and do not summon anything you do not know how to banish."
But more than the “who," this situation lacks a “why.” And that, of course, led to jokes—as well as some opinions on the moon's power and clout.
In addition to being bad practice, hexing the moon (and possibly the sun?) seems like a waste when there are so many other places to direct that energy right now. To paraphrase Mr. Show’s “Blow Up the Moon” sketch: We’re earthlings! Let’s hex earth things!
YouTube vlogger Austin McBroom is under scrutiny after a TikTok video appeared to show him slapping his 4-year-old daughter’s bottom as he said, “Oh God damn.”
McBroom runs “The ACE Family” YouTube channel along with his wife, Catherine Paiz, where they post lifestyle videos often featuring their three kids.
Twitter user @urmom031 on Saturday drew attention to the video of McBroom slapping his daughter, saying the behavior seemed wrong.
“Idk about y’all but this just doesn’t sit right w me," the user tweeted.
On Twitter, people expressed frustration and outrage over the clip.
“Something about austin mcbroom isn’t right,” user @cohcns tweeted.
Others pointed out that this isn’t the first time McBroom’s behavior towards children has been questionable. In January 2019, McBroom posted a video of himself buying a penis-shaped lollipop for a little girl believed to be related to his wife, Paiz.
“Austin McBroom has been a weirdo since the whole Spencer’s thing,” user @KSwizz_ tweeted, referring to a chain of stores that sell sex toys. “Like if I ever saw my husband or ANY man smack my child’s butt the way he did, I’d be gone.”
McBroom and Paiz never addressed the response to the lollipop video and have not responded to the backlash from the TikTok video.
A new TikTok trend, popular among "conspiracy theory TikTok," is revisiting some of the biggest conspiracies surrounding history's most mysterious celebrity deaths.
Users participating in the trend claim celebrity deaths, such as Marilyn Monroe and Heath Ledger's, were actually murders. They also claim to know who killed victims in notorious true crime cases, such as JonBenét Ramsey.
The videos use the hook from The Buggles' 1980 bop "Video Killed the Radio Star" for their sound. "Video" represents those who allegedly did the killings, while "radio star" represents their alleged victims.
In one TikTok, a user seemingly accuses Mary-Kate Olsen of killing Heath Ledger. Ledger died in 2008 of an accidental prescription drug overdose. At the time, Ledger and Olsen were believed to be romantically involved, even though they were only linked to one another after his death. Ledger’s massage therapist, Diana Wolozin, was the one to find Ledger's body, and she called Olsen before even calling the police. In a follow-up video, the TikToker clarifies that she believes Ledger died by suicide, with Olsen supplying the drugs.
Another TikToker touts the common conspiracy that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and former President John F. Kennedy killed Marilyn Monroe. Monroe died of a probable suicide by overdosing on barbiturates in 1962. It has long been rumored that Monroe was having an affair with both JFK and his brother, Robert F. Kennedy. Many conspiracy theorists believe the Kennedy brothers, the FBI, and the CIA may have had a role in her death.
Other videos claim slain child JonBenét Ramsey and missing toddler Madeleine McCann were killed by their own family members, depicting JonBenét's brother Burke Ramsey and Madeleine's parents as the "radios." Burke Ramsey was never considered a suspect in JonBenét's death, and Madeleine's parents were only considered suspects for a short time in 2007 and 2008.
And in a plot twist on the trend, one user depicts Avril Lavigne as both the "radio" and "video star." A conspiracy theory, which originated in 2005 on a Brazilian stan site, purports disappeared herself due to the pressures of fame and was replaced by a lookalike named Melissa. At some point, they believe, the real Lavigne died. Lavigne responded to the conspiracy in 2019, calling it "a dumb internet rumor."
"[I’m] flabbergasted that people bought into it. Isn’t that so weird? It’s so dumb. And I look the exact same," she told Entertainment Weekly at the time.
A woman on TikTok is using the video sharing platform as a method to test the faithfulness of people in relationships.
Chesa, who goes by chesathebrat on TikTok, has been offering up a very specific service on Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram. Upon request, she will DM a potential cheater and flirt. If her target responds in kind, they are labeled "basura"—"garbage" in Spanish—and the offending messages are sent on to their significant other.
Chesa has been putting out her videos for some time now but reached a new level of prominence after several went viral. The videos show Chesa's process as she engages with her targets.
In one of her most popular videos, Chesa begins by outlining the relationship she will be testing. The woman who reached out to her, according to Chesa, was days away from getting induced and thus giving birth. The father of her child had been distant since the beginning of her pregnancy, so she asked Chesa to administer the test.
She specifically wanted to know if her beau would skip the appointment to meet up with another girl.
Chesa accepted the challenge and initiated a conversation with the boyfriend. The pretend flirting quickly paid off when she asked if he was single. The soon-to-be father promptly answered in the negative.
"This is where I thought he was going to say 'I have a wife,'" Chesa said.
Unfortunately, she was wrong. After a bit more flirting, he agreed to meet up with her.
Chesa specifically asked if he was available at 1pm the next day—the same time his child was allegedly set to be born. He didn't agree to skip the appointment, but that doesn't make his response any better.
"Yeah okay that's fine," he wrote. "At 1 I just have some bullshit to take care of then after that I'm free. What's your number?"
The cheater was accurately labeled "basura" and tossed out where he belongs.
Following the video's rise to mainstream popularity, viewers have been stumbling across Chesa's other videos. Her TikTok is home to a truly upsetting number of videos taking down cheaters.
Thankfully, not all of her targets fall into the trap. A few of Chesa's videos revealed partners who were entirely faithful. Unfortunately, these were few and far between.
After one of Chesa's TikToks went viral on Twitter, she clarified the bounds of her service.
"So if y'all didn't know already i do tests on boyfriends AND girlfriends to see if they are faithful," she noted.
Chesa does not appear to charge for her service, as no discussion of a rate appears on either her Twitter or TikTok pages. Instead, she seems to employ her test as a method to free people from toxic relationships.
As Trump continuesgettingtrolled by TikTok, a potential ban still looms. But users have found a way to potentially stay safe on the Chinese-owned app.
As detailed by Stay Hipp, TikTok users are employing the #ILoveChina tag and audio of the Chinese National Anthem to help them get on the For You page, or get around shadowbans. Know Your Meme points to one of the earlier (satirical) uses in April, when one woman claimed she'd been shadowbanned, then declared her love for China and President Xi Jinping. That led to other videos using a similar tactic.
It's not clear if these declarations have actually helped users. While sucking up to China to get on the FYP might seem excessive, TikTok and ByteDance, its parent company, have been accused of censoring certain material and creators, while being more lenient with content that could actually harm users. It's also faced scrutiny (and lawsuits) for allegedly collectinguser data.
Reproduction, by its very nature, is typically the biological process in which a male impregnates a female by fertilizing her egg during the act of sexual intercourse. Of course, there's more than one way to make an omelet, so to speak, whether by in vitro fertilization or intrauterine insemination or what have you. So, if Jane the Virgin has taught us anything, it is technically possible—though highly unlikely—for a virgin to get pregnant, as one formerly pregnant virgin recently revealed on TikTok.
In the quirky video, Samantha Lynn Isabel, now 26, revealed that at 19, she noticed that her period was late and was feeling otherwise crampy and off, so she took a pregnancy test—despite the fact that she and her boyfriend had never had penetrative sex and she was a virgin.
To Isabel's shock, when not one, but six more pregnancy tests came back positive, she saw her doctor, who confirmed the surprising news. "And that is how I have a 5-year-old son," Isabel revealed in the post.
As Isabel later revealed to BuzzFeed, though she and her boyfriend had indeed not had penis-vagina sex, they had done ... hand stuff, which somehow resulted in her becoming impregnated.
"Sperm has to get into a vagina in order for pregnancy to happen," a gynecologist named Dr. Jennifer Lincoln likewise told BuzzFeed. "It doesn't matter what puts it there—whether it's a penis, finger, turkey baster, you name it—but once it's there, it can travel through the cervix, into the uterus, and rendezvous with an egg in the fallopian tube and fertilize it."
"With fingering, if some semen is on the fingers that touch or enter a vagina, the amount is likely lower than with penetrative sex," Lincoln added. "But like I've said before, it only takes one sperm that's in the right place at the right time!"
For what it's worth, Isabel's story has a happy ending. She and her boyfriend Alex are still together, and five-year-old Bentley, as they named their miracle baby, now has a one-year-old brother named Theo.
Though Theo "was conceived the traditional way," Isabel jokes that, "to this day," some of her friends and family still call her "The Virgin Mary"—which, all things considered, seems more than fair.
The Hamilton original Broadcast cast album has long been a source for TikTok users to use as a jumping-off point. But now creators are looping in the filmed version of the staged show as well.
For instance, King George III’s main song, “You’ll Be Gone,” which already received the meme treatment during the first weekend thanks to star Jonathan Groff, has been the subject of many a TikTok, whether creators are using the spittle or the character itself.
The first song of the musical, “Alexander Hamilton,” is even sparking crossovers from other fandoms like Avatar: The Last Airbender and Harry Potter. As it turns out, the lyrics “We, fought with him, Me, I died for him, Me, I trusted him, Me, I loved him, And me, I'm the damn fool that shot him (shot him, shot him)” can apply to a lot of fictional stories.
TikTok users are tricking their family members with a new “speeding prank” that involves lying about being pulled over by the police and asking family members to fake injuries.
The pranks, which all follow the same structure, begin with the content creator calling their family member and telling them they were just pulled over by the police for speeding. The creator then tells the family member that they lied to the officer, saying they were speeding home to help an injured family member. The pranker asks their family member, usually a parent, to pretend to have fallen.
When the content creators get to their houses, they walk up to the family member faking the injury and start laughing. At this point, the family member looks confused and gets up from the floor.
Jaden Green posted their version of this prank on TikTok Sunday and accumulated over 11.2 million views.
"I need you to like lay down on the floor, please, and act like you fell," Green tells her mom on the phone.
"Why the fuck would you do that?" her mom responds. But when Green gets home, her mom is laying on the kitchen floor, and she even spilled food on the floor for added effect.
After Green bursts into laughter, rage and disappointment fall over her mom's face. "You are so wrong," her mom says. "What I do for my kids."
Green told the Daily Dot that she's been flooded with "nice" reactions to her video. "They said she is the best mom in the world for this," Green said.
The video was uploaded to Twitter and received 468,000 likes, with some posting memes of her mom’s reaction to the prank.
The news is grim, so you might have passed right by stories about teachers spending their summers writing or updating their wills in response to school reopenings. The country is in the middle of a wildly unconfined pandemic, and now teachers are being nudged into the abyss.
A Florida teachers union sued Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and the Department of Education this week, asking that the state “develop and implement an online instruction plan.” DeSantis previously suggested we can’t let “fear” keep schools from reopening. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson parroted the party line, stating on a radio show that students will get COVID but will “get over it,” apparently forgetting the adults that populate and run schools. Mike Pence said "CDC guidance" shouldn't keep us from reopening schools. It's wicked stuff.
If you want a fuller picture of what teachers and educators are facing, the #schoolreopening hashtag on TikTok is a vivid rendering: Frustrated, underpaid teachers (and exhausted parents) trying to prepare for a worst-case scenario, or struggling with loosely implemented safety protocols, or just wondering what the plan is. In extreme cases, teachers used the music of Hamilton to channel their frustration.
One Texas teacher, bulk_n_beaucoup, posted a July 11 tweet from the Houston Independent School District benefits office about getting your will or trust prepared before the new school year, astounded at how plainly this major life event was framed. She cited the number of new positive cases on March 16, the day her school closed (seven), compared to now (as of July 22, Houston has more than 59,000 cases) and wondered how anyone could think that was safe.
"TEA [Texas Education Agency] is treating us like babysitting martyrs for the economy," she wrote in the video.
A Colorado teacher, chrisphillipsjeter, parodied confusing emails from his school district: "Dear teachers, please be prepared to teach online. Or in person. Or both, simultaneously, while on a moving train, juggling, in a burning building under the sea, during a wrestling match with a T-Rex while riding a unicorn." Other teachers used audio from creator austin_maguire satirizing states' reopening plans in May to illustrate the lack of "plans to make plans" for schools just two months later. One Texas music educator, mrskennellhaschoir, used Jonathan Groff's "What Comes Next?" from Hamilton to drive home the message: "You're on your own."
Daniel Wall-DeSousa, a teacher at Heritage High School in Palm Bay, Florida, documented the futility of keeping 2,000 teenagers socially distanced, and the "bottleneck" of foot traffic schools see in the morning and afternoon. If distancing is only enforced inside the classroom, Wall-DeSousa points out, "We really haven't done anything, have we?"
Florida dad Luis Rivera pointed out the irony of school board members in his district having Zoom meetings to decide whether his kids should be back in classrooms. He tells the Daily Dot parents are being given the option of in-person or virtual schooling, and his kids will be doing the latter.
Imagine spending spring and summer taking proper precautions, only to be pushed back into classrooms where the likelihood of transmission (even during a “normal” school year) is near certain. Jenn Ice, a special education teacher in Henderson, Nevada, recently wrote an open letter to the superintendent, voicing that concern: “I do not want to die from being forced into a situation that is preventable.”
Elsewhere on TikTok, teachers measured their strengths—logic, patience, preparedness—against this administration's severe lack.
One Texas teacher, who goes by the_mrskelly on TikTok, said she's "nervous" about going back as cases and deaths continue to surge across the state, though her district is also letting students decide on in-person or virtual classes.
"I believe that there is not a high number of COVID-19 cases for kids because kids are not in school right now," she tells the Daily Dot. "We closed schools for a reason in March and with Texas being so high in cases, I don’t understand how returning is beneficial right now considering the potential health threat to students and teachers."
Universities are also fumbling. The University of Texas-Austin already had one staff member die from COVID, but is proceeding with reopening—and football games!—while a nearby field hospital to treat COVID patients is delayed. According to the Texas Tribune, a student death from the virus would prompt a campus closure. Of course, by that time, it will have already spread into communities.
College students also illustrated the muddled messaging they're getting from schools. Rachel Dean spoofed the casual tone in a "live reenactment" of recent emails: "We want to bring you back to school but at the same time you could all die. But at the same time, we would make no money if you didn't come back." James Karsten used audio of Cardi B's early pandemic speech imploring someone at the Pentagon to tell her what was going on.
As the Atlantic details, blame is already being shifted to students for off-campus behavior during the summer, instead of governors who reopened their states too early and didn’t mandate masks until too late. Many teachers have resigned. There will likely be strikes. Dave Grohl recently penned a defense of teachers, drawn from his mother's experience as a public school teacher, that gets at just how far removed from classrooms this administration is: "America’s teachers are caught in a trap, set by indecisive and conflicting sectors of failed leadership that have never been in their position and can’t possibly relate to the unique challenges they face."
While teachers are using TikTok to address their anxiety in humorous or creative ways, that shouldn't take away their anger. Teachers are already expected to do their jobs with few to no resources. One video, from kindergarten teacher Amy Perry, shows how she's already trying to come up with a plan for the inevitable: broken masks, fidgety kids. It's just a TikTok, but it also reiterates how those insisting they go back couldn't possibly relate.
TikTok is home to all kinds of odd videos and daring challenges, but few quite so bold as William Reeves Durga's recent upload.
Upon realizing that he was wanted by the LaGrange Police Department, 21-year-old Durga decided to approach his impending arrest a bit differently. He uploaded a video to TikTok. In the video, Durga can be seen dancing in front of a shot of the LaGrange PD's Facebook post requesting details on his whereabouts. The video is captioned with a taunting phrase: "come and get me bi**h."
According to the Facebook post from the LaGrange PD, Durga is wanted "in reference to the ongoing investigation with Georgia Bureau of Investigation West Metro Drug Office and the LaGrange Police Department's Special Investigations Unit." Durga along with several other people were wanted in connection to drug purchases at the Main Street Pub, according to a press release.
In an interview with LaGrange News, Durga noted that he wasn't interested in turning himself in to Troup County Jail.
"It is so nasty and full of coronavirus," he said in a message via TikTok to the news organization. "They haven't been doing the necessary things to keep it contained. It's beyond overcrowded, nobody gets a court date, it's just wrong how the inmates are treated. I haven't been running, they never came to my house or anything. They straight blasted me on social media, so I did it back."
Durga's video shot him to TikTok prominence. In the two days since it was first posted, the video has racked up nearly a million likes and more than 45,000 comments. Apparently, all that fame caught up to Durga fast.
An update to the original LaGrange PD Facebook post shows that the department largely has TikTok to thank for successfully apprehending Durga.
"Reeves Durga has been arrested," the update begins. "The LPD and the GBI would like to thank the public’s assistance with his apprehension. Without Mr. Durga’s viral TikTok video, we would not have received the amount of tips and information that ultimately led to his arrest, thank you!"
With more than 14 million views, the hashtag #PegAllMen2020 is taking over TikTok. The origin of the trend is uncertain, but user @Itstrvn was one of the first to deploy the hashtag.
“I’m so tired of the guys acting all tough in my DMs being like, ‘Oh, I’ll fuck the shit out of you, you’re gonna do what I say,'” she said in the April 16 video. “Like sir, I will peg you! You are within pegging distance, therefore I will peg the shit out of you! So who’s doing the fucking now?”
In case you missed the Broad City episode on the topic, Cosmopolitan explains that pegging is best defined as a person with a vagina using a strap-on to penetrate a person with a penis.
Itstrvn's video gained over 221,000 views and 77,000 likes, and since then, thousands of people began to use the #PegAllMen2020 hashtag and share their opinions on the matter. Many women and people who have sex with men have made videos wherein they ask their boyfriends or friends if they would be OK with being pegged.
One user, @pisswitch, said in a video that her boyfriend would allow her to peg him if her TikTok “blew up.” The video now has over 330,000 views with 2,336 comments, mostly supporting her in the sexual endeavor. She later posted an update video asking her boyfriend how he liked it and he said, “It was alright, I didn’t enjoy it that much though… Not terrible.”
The trend also saw support from gay men on TikTok. One user, @I_am_a_toad, said, “All the girls who are like ‘Yass queen,’ you’re not real allies. If you wanna be a real ally, there’s only one thing you need to do. Peg your boyfriend.”
All of the responses to @Itstrvn’s video weren't so lighthearted. Some users made duets with the video and commented on her physical appearance, and some even threatened physical harm.
But pegging still seems to have captured TikTok users' attention. The trend continues to grow with new videos using the hashtag posted at least once a week.
Let's be real. If it weren't for TikTok's brilliant use of catchy audio as the foundation to its platform, the app would not be nearly as popular as it is today. While the abundance of creativity from TikTok users certainly drives the success of the platform, those 1-2 minute soundbites really echo in your head for days.
If you're interested in downloading the audio from TikToks—whether for fun or for your own TikTok-making devices—look no further. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to download your very own TikTok mp3.
TikTok mp3 download instructions
Step 1: Pick a TikTok
Find a TikTok with audio you'd like to download. Copy the link of the TikTok—you'll need it soon.
Ttdown is a free website exclusively dedicated to downloading TikToks as audio and video files. Unlike most "free download/convert" sites, it's not spammy and its interface is quite simple.
Step 3: Paste your link
There's a white search bar right in the middle of the main page that says "Paste TikTok Video Link here, then hit GO." Go ahead and paste your TikTok link into that white box, and then hit the red "GO" button.
Step 4: Navigate to the mp3 file
Once you've hit "GO" and the page reloads, scroll down until you see orange text that says "video found.. let's party." Underneath that text, you'll see a red button that says "download HD" and a green button that says "download mp3." Click the green button.
Step 5: Download TikTok mp3
After clicking the green button, the page will reload again. Scroll back down until you see orange text again (this time it'll say "mp3 found.. let's party"). Right click on the red button that says "download mp3" and select "Save Link As..." Rename your file as your heart desires, and voilà! You have your TikTok mp3.
Cala Murry grew up fishing with her dad. In the mountains of northern California, they mostly caught trout.
She understands the appeal of fishing itself. What she doesn’t understand are fish boys, or men who take photos of themselves holding a fish they catch and add the photos to their dating profiles.
Murry, who lives in Los Angeles, said it’s particularly confusing to see fish boys while using Tinder in the city.
Since downloading TikTok in April, she has almost exclusively posted videos wherein she rates fish in men’s Tinder profiles. Using a setting to alter her voice and TikTok’s green-screen effect, Murry appears in front of screenshots of the profiles and critiques the fish.
"The problem we have here is that the fish is a very weird shape," she says in one video.
Dozens of others have posted their own renditions using the hashtag #fishboys.
Murry has been on dating apps since she was 22 and said she doesn’t exactly remember when she first noticed the trend of fish boys. Now, at 29, she’s still interested in why men choose to “pose with a dead thing.”
“Fish photos are photos you take to share with other guys,” Murry said. “So the fact that you would be putting it on your profile, to like appeal to straight women, is really funny to me.”
Murry’s most popular fish boy TikTok was her first, which she posted on May 17 has almost 100,000 likes and over 550,000 views.
Her least favorite fish—long, slender, and green—is the first fish featured in her first video.
“I've truly never seen a fish that is that shape, it really scares me. I don't like how bendy [it is],” Murry told the Daily Dot, adding that commenters debated what kind of fish it was. “I have Googled it and only become more horrified by the fact that it exists.”
These days, other people send her their screenshots of fish boy profiles to use in the videos. She said she often gets photos of bloody fish, which are too gross for her to show.
“That's just another level of unappealing,” Murry said. “Why on earth would you ever post [that] on a dating profile; there's blood everywhere.”
Murry told the Daily Dot that she’s never reached out to any of the men she’s used in her videos—or any fish boys in general. Murry said she focuses on critiquing the fish, not the person, in hopes that if any of the featured fish boys saw video, they would just think it was funny.
“I have had people commenting ‘have you asked permission for these photos,’ which I think is interesting,” Murry said. “It's something I have definitely thought about and have felt uncomfortable about, which is why I try not to critique anyone based on their appearance. I don't want the videos to be mean-spirited at all.”
A common defense, Murry said, is that those may be the only photos the men have of themselves. But in her experience viewing profiles, fish boys always have more than just the one photo with the fish.
“I've had other people comment that they're subconsciously showing you that they can provide for you,” Murry said. “You know, showing off.”
Critiquing the fish comes naturally to Murry, she said, and it doesn’t really have anything to do with her fishing background. Mostly, she just calls them gross. But the irreverence speaks to other women.
“I was totally floored at first,” Murry said. “Then, it made sense to me that like, of course so many women can relate to that content. I pretty much knew right away when it started taking off that I would make more of them because I had more photos and I had more to say.”
At one point, Murry came across a video that used some of her same jokes. The clip went viral on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter. Since then, @Rachellloooo has posted several variations of the video and credited Murry for starting the trend in at least one.
Murry said @Rachellloooo reached out to Murry to apologize. Murry said it’s upsetting to see the other video continue to gain attention but that it’s not the worst kind of plagiarism that exists on the app.
"There's a far more insidious type of plagiarism and that's white girls plagiarizing the choreography of Black creators on TikTok. It seems like that is pretty common,” Murry said. “I think overall, there should probably be a way for more accountability on the app. I don't know what that looks like, but I'd like to see that for everyone's sake."
For now, Murry said she’ll continue to make fish related content on TikTok as long as the app is available in the U.S. In the future, she hopes to do more creative things with the topic, like the fish song she posted on July 4.
“Women, this gives us a chance to unite to come together and commiserate on other dating app experiences,” Murry told the Daily Dot. “It's healing.”
As a U.S. ban on TikTok looms, some creators are looking for the next platform. Is it Triller?
After India banned TikTok last month, the short-form video app Triller become the No. 1 downloaded iOS app in the market, and the company stated hiring in India.
As the L.A. Times reports, there are already stateside TikTok defectors like Josh Richards, who made a public statement about joining the L.A.-based app, complete with press release. Richards has more than 20 million followers on TikTok and was part of the L.A. collective Sway House, but he announced on Tuesday that he's now an investor in Triller, and that it came out of concerns over data privacy:
"After seeing the U.S. and other countries' governments' concerns over TikTok—and given my responsibility to protect and lead my followers and other influencers—I followed my instincts as an entrepreneur and made it my mission to find a solution."
Triller partner (and founder of Proxima Media) Ryan Kavanaugh told Forbes they have "50 of the top TikTok influencers currently moving over to us." But will a bigger exodus actually happen?
What is Triller?
Triller's tagline is "You do you" and it essentially has the same layout and format as TikTok. One main difference is that Triller uses AI to edit videos for users, whereas TikTok gives users editing tools. They also have partnerships with labels like Island and Universal, while TikTok has struggled with licensing and copyright.
It's been around since 2015, and was originally a music video and lip-sync app focused on aspiring musicians. In 2018, it pivoted to being more of a social platform; a search of the Triller hashtag on TikTok shows some users were asking followers to join them on Triller back then. But there haven't been many public declarations on TikTok recently.
Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and Lil Wayne are reportedly investors. Mike Tyson recently promoted the app, which will present his September fight against Roy Jones Jr. It's also promoting lesser-known talent with its Triller Studios sessions.
Is Triller really going to happen?
The Chinese-owned TikTok has been accused of snooping on millions of iPhone users' clipboards, as well as suppressing and censoring content. And it's obviously vexed the Trump administration. But mass exoduses from established apps (Gab, Ello) haven't seen a great success rate. TikTok users were also going to Byte earlier this year, though momentum seems to have slowed there.
More recent App Store reviews comment on the easy interface of Triller but address improvements that need to be made or missing features. Multiple people also mentioned having the same issue with music suddenly playing. From a July 25 review:
"Ever since I downloaded Triller, my phone would just randomly start playing a bunch of music clips back-to-back when nothing was open or on my phone and I wasn’t touching it. I tried everything to get that music to stop and Siri couldn’t even get it to stop!"
But Triller's momentum in India is a promising sign, and its dedication to music and promoting musicians could be a big draw. Richards will oversee Triller's "implementation of live streaming and the addition of monetization tools."
Is Triller better about data privacy?
Kavanaugh told Quartz India that "The only data that we collect is the genre of music you listen to and how much music do you consume on the app so we could personalise the user’s feed. We don’t store personal contact details such as email-ids or phone numbers." But, as with so many apps, users agree to some level of data collection when they join; Triller's privacy policy lays out what info it collects and receives, including location data and content you interact with on the app.
An Alabama sheriff's adult daughter slammed the "Blue Lives Matter" movement in a viral TikTok video, calling it "racist."
Gabrielle Pettway, who is a teacher and the daughter of Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway, vocalized her opinions on Blue Lives Matter in a since-deleted video.
“I’m not gonna sit up here and say ‘Blue Lives Matter’ because it’s undermining the racism and corruption built into the whole blue system,” she says in the video.
She then addresses people who have ties to the law enforcement community.
“If your boyfriend is a cop, I don’t want to hear you saying ‘Blue Lives Matter. What I want to see though is what you’re doing to hold him accountable? What kind of conversations are y’all having with your brothers, dads, moms, who’s ever in law enforcement to hold them accountable and making sure they’re a part of the solution and not the problem," she continues.
Pettway mentions that because her father is the first Black sheriff in Jefferson County, her family has been subjected to death threats. Pettway says that she is also aware police officers put their lives on the line daily.
“But Black people are risking their lives just by being Black,” she says. “Given the choice, I would choose that again but I wouldn’t choose oppression, too. Why does that have to come with being Black?”
Pettway then addresses people who see nothing wrong with Blue Lives Matter, saying they are a part of the problem. “If you feel that there’s nothing wrong with saying Blue Lives Matter, you’re privileged. It’s inconsiderate, it’s insensitive, it’s distasteful and it’s racist,” she says.
Her comments have been controversial among the law enforcement community. A former investigator with the sheriff’s office in Jefferson County, David McAnally, told a local news station, “To me, it’s just really disappointing that a daughter would say that when her dad has walked the streets, and faced the danger, and depended on his big brothers to support him and back him up.”
A mother, who has nearly 300,000 followers on TikTok, sparked a debate in her comments section after she bragged about spanking her children.
Jocelyn Yates, a mother of two, made a video holding her infant child, with the text, “Who spanks their kids?” She uses TIAGZ's song "Muffins In The Freezer" for the audio, mouthing over the line, “I do.”
“Guess what? you can teach children discipline [without] physically hurting them.” commenter Jennifer Allred wrote. “ It takes the parents knowing how to teach boundaries and being consistent.”
TikTokers even duetted Yates' video, prompting users to sound off in those videos with more criticism.
"She is bragging about abusing her baby. if they can't understand reason, they won't understand pain. if they understand reason, pain isnt necessary," one user wrote.
Lyrics for "Muffins In The Freezer" also say, "What you gonna do about it? Nothing."
"Call cps is what imma do ma’am," one user joked.
Some, however, defended Yates and the act of spanking as a form of discipline. “Some of y’all never got spanked and it shows,” one person wrote.
“My siblings were all spanked.. only thing we got out of it was respect.. and well behaved,” another wrote.
“[You’re] doing a good job! This is exactly how me & my siblings were raised and we turned out A ‘OK!!!” another added. “And this is definitely how [I’m] going to raise mine!”
Yates responded to the criticism in a follow-up video. Replying to a comment that reads, “THATS A BABY?!?!,” she says: “Yes, this is a baby. But guess what, she has a big sister. … And, sometimes, she deliberately disobeys, and guess what, she gets her butt spanked—but not all the time, only when it’s necessary. A lot of the time, she does listen, and she will obey. But I’m not gonna raise my kids to be little buttholes.”
A TikTok trend has users attempting past life regression therapy and making content based on their alleged past lives. One teen is claiming to be Catherine Eddowes, one of Jack the Ripper’s victims.
The teen, @dracomalfoyisfit, uses the Buggles' “Video Killed the Radio Star,” the sound from another TikTok trend about death conspiracies, to allege the notorious serial killer murdered her in her past life. She completes her video with the hashtags #pastliferegression and #pastlife.
Participants of past life regression therapy are hypnotized, and visions of their past lives come to them during that time, according to Distractify. While some TikTokers are sharing videos featuring this hypnosis process, others, like @dracomalfoyisfit, are sharing the aftermath featuring what they discovered about their "past lives."
After @dracomalfoyisfit’s initial video went viral, she made several “storytime” videos detailing her past life regression experience.
“So, I was on the street, saw this guy. I was like, you know, a prostitute,” she begins in one of her storytimes. "We had a little chat, and then he took me like around the corner of the street.”
"Bear in mind, I saw the sign of the street, it was Whitechapel. You already know where this is going,” @dracomalfoyisfit continues.
The Whitechapel area, an impoverished district in East London, was the site where Jack the Ripper killed at least five women, leading them to be collectively referred to as the “Whitechapel Murders."
"So, he took me into this alleyway and slit my throat. Right before he slit my throat, I asked him what his name was. He said, ‘Jack the fucking Ripper.’ Then my like soul left (my) body, and I was looking down at this body being mutilated," @dracomalfoyisfit says.
“I looked at the cases, and I’m pretty sure I was Catherine Eddowes,” @dracomalfoyisfit adds.
Eddowes was believed to be the fourth Jack the Ripper victim, the second in just one night. Her body—including her face, uterus, and left kidney—was mutilated. Jack the Ripper often mutilated his victims' bodies, leading some to believe he had surgical skills.
In more follow-ups, the teen compares her appearance to Eddowes’ using photos of the slain 46-year-old.
