If you're seeing dancing llamas on TikTok, it might be because of "Mi Pan Su Su Sum." But it allegedly came from dancing bees.
As detailed by StayHipp, the trend started taking off in June, after audio of someone singing what was thought to be "Mi pan su su sum" was used in an animated video from user isterrrrika. Know Your Meme says a remix has been circulating since February. More recently, the TikTok song has been applied to videos of dancing llamas, and unamused alpacas.
Lyrics site Genius posted the verse, but on TikTok, the most popular audio is titled "THIS SONG ISNTT ABOUT BREAD Stop mipansusus," apparently a reference to the "mi pan" part, though people definitely made it about bread.
The song appears to be more popular with Spanish speakers on TikTok, as well as "alt" TikTok. But as Vice points out, it originated in Russia; a 2010 commercial for honey-flavored cereal Miel Pops includes a jingle with the same cadence, though the lyrics are a little different. That might explain why the original poster's TikTok includes a caption in Russian. There is also a French version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJZ4AEOrvk4
It is catchy, though. Maybe a little too catchy. The song has been memed on Twitter, but people are also divided on whether it is good or bad.
There has been some clarification on what the lyrics actually are, though. Washington Post editor Tanya Sichynsky said that as a Cuban and a Ukrainian, she is "uniquely qualified to dunk on every tiktok teen who insists the lyrics are 'mi pan.' THE SONG IS IN RUSSIAN."
Fans are counting the number of spins in her dances, analyzing the colors she wears, zooming in on her hat to see if it says "Help." What’s going on with the Free Britney movement?
The movement has long advocated to help free singer Britney Spears of her conservatorship, which has been in effect since 2008. All life decisions or finances had to be run past Spears' father, Jamie, and lawyer Andrew Wallet for approval. Wallet stepped down in March 2019, and six months later her father stepped down as well, after his health declined. Professional conservator Jodi Montgomery was appointed in September 2019.
Last week, the Instagram account Free Britney L.A. documented protests outside a Los Angeles courthouse where Montgomery was attending a hearing, and is planning one for August. Free Britney L.A.'s Kevin Wu tells the Daily Dot: “The movement seeks to end the conservatorship of Britney Spears and raise awareness about conservatorship abuse. Probate conservatorship is a protective measure for incapacitated individuals, and Britney’s achievements over the last decade prove that she is far from incapacitated.” There's also been renewed discussion, in this election year, about whether Spears can vote. A 2016 change in California law made it easier for the conservatee to do so.
Fans share Free Britney theories
While there is ongoing IRL support for Spears, the Free Britney movement has gotten a little weirder online. As Naomi Fry detailed for the New Yorker: “Spears’s Instagram feed has become a Rosetta stone, with master semioticians parsing its merest signs for hidden meaning. In her posts, what had once seemed merely kooky now appeared sinister to some.”
There are fans who believe Spears is being held hostage, or in distress, or covertly asking fans for help via Instagram and TikTok. Commenters think certain colors Spears wears in her videos are calls for help, or that her dance routines are coded messages, or that a Q&A is more ominous: “She looks like someone's telling her what to say.”
Instead of being viewed as another person bored in the house during a pandemic, her videos are psychoanalyzed (by people also likely bored in their houses). Spears responded to some of this misinfo and hate on July 10, and said the free-form dances are just an expression of her “being happy.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCeMKYXg3Cq/
The #FreeBritney tag exploded on TikTok, which plunged the movement into even more conspiratorial territory. One video of Spears twirling a white hat was enhanced to show she allegedly has “Help” written on it. Elsewhere, people think she’s spelling out different letters of the alphabet with her body, or acknowledging comments from previous videos to show she needs help, or somehowreflecting the Twin Towers falling on Sept. 11 in her right eye to signal 911.
Another theory posits that Spears is referencing a scene from Frozen during a recent Q&A, covertly using her answer about when she goes to bed (“11:30, 12”) as code for the time stamp in the film where Elsa says, “You have to tell them to let me go.” TikTok is also where Spears’ former photographer, Andrew Gallery, shared a letter, written in third person, that Spears allegedly gave him in 2008, insinuating that the conservatorship gives her no control. Gallery said he was the anonymous source that leaked the letter to the Daily Mail in 2019.
Is Britney being gaslit?
Asked about the uptick in conspiracy theories, Wu said: “While I don’t subscribe to many of the conspiracy theories, I recognize that they’re a consequence of the team’s mystifying lack of transparency and appreciate that they spread awareness about the movement.”
Proponents of the movement believe the 38-year-old, who still works and makes money performing, deserves to make her own personal and financial decisions after a decade. But Spears has never publicly stated that she’s unhappy with the situation. According to court documents, Spears allegedly did not show up for a September 2019 hearing because she “does not object” to the conservatorship. Last year, the Los Angeles Times investigated the conservatorship and found “no independent evidence that Spears was being harmed by the arrangement.” Her attorney, Stanton Stein, told the paper, “She’s always involved in every career and business decision.”
But Wu thinks it's more complex than that. He says there's "evidence that she has been coerced or gaslit into not fighting" the conservatorship, and that "Britney has her own way of making her voice heard."
There’s almost an art to naming a Star Wars movie: It has thematic resonance, can give you an idea of what to expect, and the best ones work on multiple levels or refer to more than one aspect of the film. They also, at least according to one TikTok user, can easily correspond even better to a different Star Wars movie.
The argument put forward by TikTok user fake.disney.facts is lighthearted in nature, and he doesn’t seem to be arguing for actually changing the Star Wars movie titles. But if you go through the entire Star Wars saga, his arguments make sense.
Despite the years and decades between some of the titles being switched around, all of the titles easily correspond to another movie via fake.disney.facts’ arguments. But in typical fashion with anything related to Star Wars, when re-uploaded versions of the TikTok went viral on Twitter, people had thoughts about how valid the arguments were. Which really goes to show the two constants of viral Star Wars content: It has the capacity to both astound viewers and make others want to correct it with their version instead.
TikToker Brittany Broski, also known as Kombucha Girl, posted a video on TikTok, which has since created a dialogue surrounding African American Vernacular English (AAVE).
In the video, she said that AAVE is part of internet culture, adding that this is how "everyone" speaks in online communities. She has since deleted the videos and later apologized.
“I feel like it’s a very fine line between genuinely calling out a creator that’s using AAVE or ‘the blaccent’ for comedic purposes versus quoting something,” she said in the original TikTok.
She then goes on to bring up an example of when she used AAVE during an Instagram Live, which she said plays off of a meme about Nicki Minaj. She said she noticed a comment that said “big boobs,” and she responded, “Um…chile, anyways.”
“So when someone is quoting that or when someone says, ‘Period,' 'sis,' whatever… It’s very much internet culture, like stan twitter, stan culture has its own language," she said in the since-deleted video. "This is how you speak within these online communities.”
Her comments prompted a swift backlash online. Twitter user @slitmyclitt posted the video on Twitter with the caption, “y’all really let this [white] woman sit up and here and boldly tell Black people AAVE is 'stan culture' I’m sick.”
Broski’s comments garnered a slew of criticism from other people on Twitter.
“Nonblack people quick to claim AAVE as ‘internet culture,” user @shaTIRED tweeted, “Chile my grandmother was calling me chile before social media. Please hang it up.”
Another user tweeted that the fact that social media users who aren't Black think they're allowed to use AAVE online is a problem.
“‘This how we talk on these online communities’ That's the problem. Non-Black people on here but on these internet accents they only use for twitter which is just AAVE.”
Broski later took to Twitter and apologized for her comments.
“Hey y’all I made some videos speaking my mind on something I wasn’t properly educated on (AAVE) and I’ve since taken all the videos down," she tweeted. "I appreciate y’all being constructive w me. I didn’t mean any harm by the vids, and I’m sorry! was just having an open dialogue on [Tiktok].”
In a separate tweet, she said, “I think the take-away for me here is to do what I should’ve been doing from the beginning: just reposting info directly from Black creators. not speaking on it myself bc who am I and why am I speaking on it lmao, I’m human y’all I’m growing & learning every day I promise.”
A popular online group, known as the "Conservative Hype House," has come out against President Donald Trump's decision to ban TikTok.
The right-wing collective, which currently boasts more than 1.4 million followers on the Chinese-owned app, came out on Friday in opposition to the anticipated ban.
"As far as the decision itself I absolutely do not agree with this decision whatsoever," Conservative Hype House member Cameron Higby says.
Trump on Friday told reporters that he intends to ban the app as soon as Saturday, possibly taking executive action to do so.
“As far as TikTok is concerned we’re banning them from the United States,” Trump said.
The U.S. government has long expressed concern over the potential national security implications of the app. The Pentagon, in particular, has urged U.S. service members and their families to avoid putting the app on their phones.
But the Conservative Hype House further pushed back on Trump's remarks by calling TikTok, which has 80 million daily users, a trustworthy app.
"TikTok has an American CEO, and they've taken measures to make sure that the Chinese government cannot seize any information harvested on Americans," Higby says. "Every company, every social media company, harvest your information for marketing purposes. TikTok does the same thing except they live in a country where their government could seize that information."
Higby goes on to stress that data on American users has been moved to servers "where the [Chinese] government cannot seize that information."
"So I do not understand why this is happening," he says.
Higby also pushed back on the assertion that Trump's decision is based more on personal gain than national security.
In a video on Saturday, TikTok U.S. General Manager Vanessa Pappas stated that the company is "not planning on going anywhere."
In response to the potential ban, TikTok's parent company ByteDance is reportedly planning to give up its U.S. stake in the app to Microsoft. Whether such a move would convince Trump to cancel his plans to ban the app remains to be seen.
“As far as TikTok is concerned we’re banning them from the United States,” Trump said.
People online immediately pointed to the two reasons they think are behind Trump's decision: TikTok star Sarah Cooper, a comedian who has gained traction on the app for her impersonations of the president, and the TikTok-led sabotage of his Tulsa rally.
"It is not lost on me that destroying @tiktok_us is revenge for Tulsa and the brilliant takedowns by the goddess @sarahcpr Tick Tack makes Trumpy SAD," wrote Twitter user @WeAreAllOther.
Coincidentally, Cooper made a spoof of the president talking about the potential of a ban just hours before Trump's announcement.
She also pointed out that one of her most recent viral videos, in which she mocks Trump boasting about his cognitive test, wasn't even created on the app.
With a potential ban on the horizon from President Donald Trump, TikTok users are feverishly discussing ways to bypass restrictions on the app.
A wide range of videos on the platform suggest that users can continue using TikTok by doing anything, from changing their phone's settings to installing a VPN.
The U.S. government has repeatedly expressed national security concerns over the Chinese-owned app, leading Trump on Friday to suggest that a ban was imminent.
“As far as TikTok is concerned we’re banning them from the United States,” Trump said.
While it remains unclear whether the ban will actually take place, the U.S. would not be the first country to bar access to the app.
India banned the appjust last month amid escalating tensions between New Delhi and Beijing. And though it's uncertain how a U.S. ban would be carried out, actions taken by users in India could give insight into bypassing such restrictions.
One likely outcome of a ban would almost certainly see the TikTok app removed from both the Apple Store and Google Play. Although there are exceptions to the rules, for the average internet user little could be done to circumvent such action.
For starters, changing the "language and region" settings in your phone, as one TikTok user suggested, would not work.
Given that Apple approves all apps in its store, getting the TikTok app to work on an iPhone would be difficult for non-technical users.
Android phones, on the other hand, allow users to install apps from outside of Google Play by adjusting certain settings. Theoretically, TikTok could let Android users download the app directly from its website. But even then, depending on how the ban is enforced, the app could still be blocked on the network level.
So what about VPNs? Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) mask your computer's IP address by routing your internet traffic through servers across the globe.
A VPN in nearly all cases would not allow you to access the app on your phone once it's been restricted, but you could still use TikTok. The easiest way to do so would be by using the web version of TikTok instead.
Whether on your phone or computer, logging into a VPN and accessing the TikTok site through your web browser would almost certainly work. Users in India have done this and the same for many in China, where countless U.S.-based apps are banned.
TikTok remains untouched for now, and a ban may not move forward. But if it does, it will be largely unenforceable.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella spoke with President Donald Trump about the tech giant acquiring the popular video app TikTok and is still exploring a potential purchase of the app, the company announced.
TikTok has repeatedly denied any influence from the country and denied any American user data is shared with China.
However, according to Reuters, the president agreed to let Microsoft explore an acquisition of TikTok for the next 45 days.
Microsoft seemed to confirm this timeline, saying that it wanted to complete the discussions "no later than September 15."
"Following a conversation between Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and President Donald J. Trump, Microsoft is prepared to continue discussions to explore a purchase of TikTok in the United States," the company said in blog post on Sunday.
The company said any potential acquisition would be "subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury."
Microsoft also seemed to hint at concerns that have been raised about user data, by noting that it would "ensure that all private data of TikTok’s American users is transferred to and remains in the United States." TikTok has repeatedly said that U.S. user data is stored within the country, with a backup in Singapore.
The deadline for a potential deal was imposed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), Reuters reported.
This wouldn't be Microsoft's first foray into social media—it owns LinkedIn—but it would push the company squarely into one of the fastest growing and hugely popular sphere of social media companies.
Despite the current fiasco pertaining to whether TikTok will remain legal in the U.S., it's absolutely one of the most integral platforms in American pop culture. These days, most of the internet's funniest, catchiest, most relevant, and most popular videos can be found on TikTok. So why not save some of the best for yourself?
If you're interested in downloading a TikTok video—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 mp4.
TikTok mp4 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.
ExpertsPHP is a free website exclusively dedicated to downloading TikToks as video files. Unlike most "free download/convert" sites, it's not spammy and its interface is quite simple.
Step 3: Paste your link
Underneath a pink bar that says "Vimeo Video Downloader," there's a white search bar right in the middle of the main page that says "Paste the URL link here" and then lists an example URL. Go ahead and paste your TikTok link into that white box, and then hit the pink "DOWNLOAD" button.
Step 4: Navigate to the mp4 file
Once you've hit "DOWNLOAD" and the page reloads, scroll down until you see a pink button that says "download link." Click that button (it's listed under a blue bar that says "Video" and "Format."
Step 5: Download TikTok video
After clicking the pink button, the page will reload again. Scroll back down until you see another pink "download link" button. Right click on that same button and select "Save Link As..." Rename your file as your heart desires, and voilà! You have your TikTok mp4.
A social media “challenge” that took off on TikTok over the weekend caused trouble for at least one women's shelter. As part of the trend, users called "feminist numbers," including domestic abuse hotlines, and asked to speak to “the man in charge," Patch reports.
The Women's Center in Waukesha, Wisconsin, was one of the centers targeted by prank callers, according to WITI-TV. The center provides shelter and support to victims of domestic abuse, sexual abuse, and human trafficking.
Angela Mancuso, executive director of the Women's Center, told local news outlets that the TikTok prank was not as harmless as it might seem and could even cost someone their life. “There is a lack of understanding that what they (social media app users) are doing is much bigger than getting a few laughs," Mancusosaid.
She added that the people calling, not just women, are often deeply traumatized and it takes a lot for them to call. “That is what eats at me. If someone can't get through right away, they may not call back," Mancuso told Patch.
At first, the center wrote off the prank calls. But then calls came in by the hundreds and tied up the phone lines, taking opportunity away from people actually seeking help.
Mancuso also said that the prank callers posed as assault survivors. “People are now calling and describing rape in graphic detail and using misogynist and transphobic slurs," Mancuso said. "So this is literal harassment now."
The center said when Wisconsin's stay-at-home order was announced in May, there was a “decrease in calls to the Women's Center but an increase in lethality/danger assessment calls,” according to Patch.
"In a time when victims are at high risk and an opportunity to reach out is essential, these pranks are especially threatening to the center's work," Mancuso said.
By Monday afternoon, it appeared that any TikTok videos promoting the "man in charge" challenge had been removed. TikTok's safety guidelines prohibit impersonating a person or organization "in a confusing or deceptive manner."
“We are committed to promoting a safe and positive app environment for our users," TikTok told the Daily Dot in a statement. "Our Community Guidelines outline behavior that is not acceptable on the platform, and we take action against behavior that violates those policies, including by removing content or accounts."
The Women’s Center did not immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment.
Debby Ryan has completed her career arc from child actress to TikTok meme queen.
The Insatiable became a viral sensation in 2020 thanks to a scene in the 2012 Disney movie Radio Rebel, about a shy high school student who moonlights as a rock DJ. In one scene, Ryan flashes a shy half-smile that has become the subject of countless memes and impersonations over the last several months.
Ryan poked fun at this meme in her new TikTok. The video shows Ryan in a plaid button-down shirt and sweatpants with the caption “What I’d wear to fashion week in…” She then cycles through a series of outfit changes for previous characters she’s played, including Jessie Prescott in Jessie, Bailey Pickett in The Suite Life on Deck, Patty Bladell in Insatiable, and, of course, Tara Adams in Radio Rebel.
The TikTok ends with a close-up on Ryan, as she sweeps her hair to the side and flashes the awkward smile that launched a million memes.
Ryan’s TikTok was a huge hit. It’s been viewed over 25 million times on the app in the last 12 hours and been shared all over Twitter, where users praised her for owning the meme.
“The way Debby Ryan is the first person to acknowledge their own meme and not kill it… her power,” @zoomfield tweeted.
“POV: TikTok actually gets banned,” they tweeted with a screenshot of Ryan’s facial expression. “Debby Ryan bringing back the radio rebel face to distract trump so we can all sneak back into the whitehouse and bring the app back.”
If TikTok gets banned in the U.S., at least Ryan gave it a fitting swan song.
A teenager is accused of fatally stabbing his neighbor in an attempt to go viral on TikTok.
Lawyers representing the family of William Durham Sr., the man who was killed, say 18-year-old Zachary Latham of New Jersey stabbed Durham while filming the encounter for a TikTok video.
According to Fox News, Latham and his wife, Sarah, had previously chronicled disputes with various members of the Durham family on the video platform, with most of the encounters involving violent activity.
In one video, Durham’s wife Catherine challenged Latham about the way he was driving. Latham recorded the conversation, in which he referred to Catherine as “Karen” several times. In another TikTok, the Durhams’ son, William, tries to open Lathem’s car door as he drives by, a confrontation Latham described as happening after “Karen’s son found out the video went viral.” Latham said he believed William was trying to take him out of the car.
After a few more hostile encounters with Latham, attorneys for the Durham family say the family went to Latham’s house to address the ongoing feud. It was during this encounter, the lawyers say, that Latham stabbed and tased Willliam Durham Sr., fatally wounding him.
The Durham family says they were unable to prevent the string of harassment they experienced from Latham leading up to William Sr.’s death because of court closures due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Durham’s attorneys make it clear they believe Zachary and Sarah Latham recorded the events resulting in William Sr. 's death with the intent to upload the footage to TikTok and become famous. Because of this, they want Latham to be charged with first-degree murder, rather than aggravated manslaughter—the current charge against him.
Latham, a member of New Jersey’s national guard, continues to post videos to his TikTok account, c6_zaach. According to the New York Post, his next court date is in May of 2021, and he remains free until then.
TikTok users have never been afraid to get political, and their latest hashtag trend features none other than 19th-century theorist Karl Marx.
#KarlMarxismyDaddy has more than 320,000 views on the platform, with many posts putting a modern-day spin on the influential German writer and his communist ideals.
The most popular post using the hashtag comes from @vegandannydevito.
"Y'all are like CEO of this or CEO of that. First of all, guillotine CEOs," he says in the TikTok, which is captioned, "and that's on siezing [sic] the means of production!"
"We're not gen Z we're the guilloteens," one user added in the comments.
Another popular TikTok pairs sound from a Khloe Kardashian cookie-stacking tutorial (can't make that up) with a video zooming in on a copy of Marx's The Communist Manifesto.
"Fun fact: in highschool I was voted 'most likely to overthrow the government,'" @elllemarx wrote in that caption, along with the #KarlMarxismyDaddy hashtag.
Of course, this is not Marx's first time being memed, but leave it to TikTok and Gen Z—excuse me, the guilloteens—to find a way to pair Marxism with Madonna.
While Facebook may be trying to sweep into a potential void that would be created without TikTok, many people online were quick to notice that Reels is essentially the same thing as the app it is trying to compete against.
Social media users called Reels "absolutely shameless," a "rip off," and ripped apart a tweet from Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, who called Reels "new."
It remains to be seen how successful Reels will be compared to TikTok, but it doesn't look like the initial reaction is positive.
For months, politicians, teachers, and parents have clashed over what to do about the new school year due to coronavirus concerns. In the meantime, schools have already started reopening, and students are turning to TikTok to show their "new normal. "For some, it seems pretty terrifying.
"When youre [sic] the only one wearing a mask in your class," @kkemii subtitled a video of her experience being back in school on Tuesday. It starts on her face–showing her mask–before panning around to prove her point.
The video received thousands of replies, many expressing disbelief.
"Masks aren't mandatory & the desks aren't 6ft apart???? omg do they not care abt yall," wrote one commenter.
"'GET OUT'" encouraged another.
Another student, @heyhannah, expressed solidarity and shared her similar experience. Her TikTok chronicles her first day back, from waking up and driving over to gathering in the gym and discovering almost none of her classmates were wearing masks.
"Can someone tell me why the fuck I was one of a handful of students that were wearing a fucking mask," she says at the end.
@heyhannah's video has more than two million views and 7,000 responses, including a number from students sharing their schools' plans.
"My school isn’t making them [masks] mandatory as if we didn’t have 272828 new covid cases last week," commiserated one commenter.
"I’m thankful that i’m doing all online school," added another.
But students participating in online school have expressed their frustration on TikTok, too.
"Can I graduate already?" wrote @dassany_0920 alongside her TikTok of her first day of senior year, which seemingly consisted of a slate of Zoom calls.
There's a number of other TikToks showing teens expressingdisappointment at virtual classes, hinting at a trend that will likely become more common as the rest of states start their new school years. Many of the country's largest districts are implementing online learning, at least temporarily, as the U.S. continues to struggle with outbreaks of coronavirus.
Given that students don't seem inclined to mask up, it might still be the best worst solution.
TikTok said on Friday that it would "pursue all remedies available to it" to fight President Donald Trump's executive order that would effectively ban the popular app in the United States.
On Thursday, Trump issued an executive order that banned U.S. transactions with TikTok. He also issued a similar order for WeChat.
The order would go into effect 45 days from now, aligning closely to a window Trump created for Microsoft to talk about purchasing the U.S. portion of TikTok.
Trump's order cites that TikTok "automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users," which is not uncommon for any social media app. Concerns have been raised about the possibility of TikTok, which is owned by a Chinese company, sending data to China's government, as the country has a history of requiring tech companies to hand over data.
TikTok has vigorously defended itself, saying that U.S. user data is stored within the country.
In response to Trump's order, the popular app said it was "shocked" and hinted that it would pursue legal action to defend itself.
"For nearly a year, we have sought to engage with the U.S. government in good faith to provide a constructive solution to the concerns that have been expressed. What we encountered instead was that the U.S. Administration paid no attention to facts, dictated terms of an agreement without going through standard legal processes, and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses," the company wrote in a statement on Friday.
TikTok also mentioned a possible sale of its U.S. business in the statement, before saying it is considering legal action.
"We will pursue all remedies available to us in order to ensure that the rule of law is not discarded and that our company and our users are treated fairly—if not by the Administration, then by the U.S. courts," the company said.
Microsoft confirmed earlier this week that it was considering purchasing TikTok, saying that it wanted to complete discussions about an acquisition "no later than Sept. 15."
TikTok is often viewed as a generator of viral dances and challenges, but there are countless subcultures and niche aesthetics that populate it, with art specific to those communities. And some of it won’t translate to other apps if Trump's order, signed on Thursday, essentially bans the use of TikTok in the U.S. The order takes effect in 45 days and prohibits any transactions between TikTok's Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance, and Americans for national security reasons.
What will happen to micro-communities like Juul and Teletubby TikTok? Can Shrek TikTok find another audience? Creator Thaddeus Shafer recently illustrated this chaotic map of identities and descriptors, visiting Pool Cleaning TikTok and Youth Pastor TikTok.
TikTok and Microsoft have been given a month to reach a potential deal, but this government interference spooked some creators, who started asking fans to follow them on other platforms. Last week, 18-year-old TikTok star Josh Richards announced he’s moving to Triller, another short-form video app, and bringing two other members of the popular Los Angeles collective Sway House with him. Members of Hype House, also Los Angeles-based, are already being siphoned off into a TV show. For some creators, moving entire fanbases isn’t as easy, and TikTok provides a source of income.
Deeper within the app—under the many “houses” of TikTok—is a labyrinth of subcultures, contained more broadly under the dome of alt or elite TikTok. There are users who only want to scroll this “side” of TikTok, to avoid drifting over to the other option: straight TikTok, where the more mainstream dances and challenges happen. Last month, factions of alt TikTok allegedly moved over to Byte, another competitor, though reactions were mixed and it doesn’t have the same editing tools as TikTok.
Creator Nanny Neck tells the Daily Dot that “at this moment in time, much of the content will not work on another platform unless it is similar to the working of TikTok.”
That feels true for a lot of art created in Deep TikTok, or DeepTok. It’s often identified by the deep fried meme aesthetic, which predates TikTok but has been revitalized on the app. There’s a focus on unsettling images, distorted audio, warped video art, and hybrid creatures like eggdogs. There are accounts devoted to animating the prescription drug Vyvanse, and the element Hydrogen.
Deep TikTok, like other TikTok subcultures, tries to quantify who’s engaging on this side. That’s tied more intrinsically to TikTok’s ever-evolving recommendation engine and its For You page, which is specific to the app and shapes much of its content. In a recent piece about TikTok’s U.S. success, Eugene Wei likens its algorithm to the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter novels: “Just as that magical hat sorts students at Hogwarts into the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin houses, TikTok’s algorithm sorts its users into dozens and dozens of subcultures.” That’s something bigger social platforms haven’t been able to do, which means its algorithm is highly coveted.
It also allows TikTok to go extremely niche in its quest to serve you. That means you could end up in Macaroni Girl TikTok, a “safe space” where you’ll be greeted by the surreal creation of whynotwerk (assisted by Snapchat’s spaghetti filter). Or you might stumble into Synth Rat TikTok, which has emerged as its own microscene. Brought to life by Lil Young Old Man, the keytar-playing Synth Rat has its own theme song and has been memed; there are multiple videos of confused individuals wondering how they ended up in this place, or how to “escape” it.
Asked about Synth Rat’s ascendance on the platform, and what might happen if TikTok is banned, Synth Rat told the Daily Dot via email: “SYNTH RAT IS NOT A SCENE. ALL SCENES ARE SYNTH RAT. BEHOLD THE TRUTH. THE CENTER IS HERE. ELIMINATION OF TIKTOK IN THE PHYSICAL PLANE WILL DO NOTHING TO STOP THE PERMEATION OF CHAOS. NO ESCAPE.”
Synth Rat has a point: It won’t stop chaos. While some creators don’t seem worried about TikTok's future, Nanny Neck points out the bigger issue with a potential sale to a U.S. company: "The data will then essentially switch from one government to another as I am sure the U.S. will also have powers if need be to access user data in special circumstances.” There’s also a chance that “special circumstances” could lead to more nefarious measures.
TikTok’s proliferation of subcultures and microgenres speaks to how close it has come to essentially being a streaming platform. There’s content for any whim or mood you have (or might have, or have had). Did I know I wanted to see insurance TikTok? No, but TikTok did.
In his crusade against the China-based apps TikTok and WeChat, President Donald Trump almost banned a wide swathe of the video game industry.
Tech reporters raised the alarm on Thursday night, noticing that the wording of Trump's anti-TikTok/WeChat executive order was confusingly unclear. By trying to block transactions with WeChat's parent company in the U.S., the order seemingly blocked any interaction with Tencent, a business conglomerate whose holdings include streaming services, video games, TV, movies, and music.
Tencent owns Riot Games and has a financial stake in several other major publishers including Blizzard, Ubisoft, and Activision. League of Legends, World of Warcraft, and Fortnite would all be affected if the executive order was accepted at face value.
Within hours, a White House official clarified to the Los Angeles Times that the order only referred to transactions on or with WeChat, not other media companies connected with Tencent. This was not clear from the actual text of the order.
Social media app WeChat is hugely popular in China, with over a billion users worldwide. It also has a more complicated role than something like Facebook, since, in addition to being a messaging app, it's also used for online banking and payments, shopping, and other services. And if you have friends and relatives in China, WeChat is a crucial communication platform because the Chinese government banned the use of Western social media apps like Facebook and WhatsApp.
So by blocking WeChat in the U.S. (or at least announcing plans to block WeChat in 45 days), the Trump administration wants to cut off that line of communication with people in China.
WeChat and TikTok are both being targeted due to "security concerns," essentially because apps were developed by Chinese companies. Chinese businesses are obliged to cooperate with the country's intelligence services, adding to the usual concerns about private companies gathering data about their customers. Of course, the U.S. government also routinely requests user data from American social media platforms.
While WeChat isn't as widely known in the U.S., threatening TikTok is a very unpopular move. The app is very popular among young adults, and at the moment there's a lot of uncertainty about how the ban will play out. The executive order gives TikTok and WeChat's parent companies a 45-day deadline, pressuring them to sell the apps (or partition off an American section of those apps) to a U.S. company. In TikTok's case, that might be Microsoft.
Tencent's various video game connections are safe for now, suggesting the Trump administration is either uninterested or unaware of any potential data-gathering taking place inside games like Fortnite or World of Warcraft.
The new TikTok-like feature came just one week after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress as a part of an anti-trust probe. The hearing intended on determining the vast reach of tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Facebook.
Zuckerberg downplayed Facebook's control over the social media market. But now, it is clear that Instagram Reels is aiming to sweep TikTok under the rug—or, at the very least, bite into its base of users.
Here is what we know about Facebook's new Instagram Reels.
What is Instagram Reels?
The new video editing feature is now available to Instagram users in over 50 countries, including the U.S.
Reels is accessed through the Instagram Stories camera as an option on the bottom of the screen. Users slide left when opening the app and "Reels" is next to the normal picture or video option.
After selecting Reels, users will find five features for their videos including audio, speed, effects, align, and timer.
The audio option provides music from Instagram's licensed library. Once a song is selected, the user can decide which portion of the song they want to play during the 15 seconds. Or, the user can use their own audio by hitting record.
The speed option can slow down or speed up the time of the video.
The effects option on Reels is perhaps the feature's most valuable option. Any filter or effect available on Instagram can be used on Reels. Instagram's augmented reality capabilities allow for more effects than any other shortform video platform.
If a creator has multiple clips, the align feature helps to create seamless transitions. It lines up the images from the first clip so that the second clip flows naturally without any jumps.
Finally, the timer option allows for users to start the video after a designated amount of seconds so that recording is hands-free.
Once a Reels video is finalized, Instagram users can post to their feed, direct messages, or story. Accounts set to public may have their Reels video featured on the 'Explore' page, which is a compilation of public accounts suited for each individual user.
How similar is Instagram Reels to TikTok?
While Instagram Reels and TikTok look almost identical, there are some minor differences.
The interface itself appears pretty much the same as TikTok's but with the user controls are on the left side of the screen. While Reels only allows for 15 second videos, TikTok lets users have videos that can be as long as 60 seconds.
Meanwhile, the two apps both have music libraries. But, TikTokers can take original audio from other TikTokers. So, one creator's original voice can be used on top of another creators video.
Another differentiating factor is audience. If an Instagram account is public, then a user's Reel video is available to a larger audience similar to TikTok's 'For You' feed. But, popularity around TikTok is based on the 'For You' feed.
Also, while TikTok is its own app, Reels is nestled within Instagram.
Despite the small differences, TikTok trolled Instagram, tweeting that the newly-launched app "looked familiar."
Although Instagram has more monthly users, a popular TikTok video is more likely to see more viewers than a popular Reels video because it does not have to compete with other content like images, stories, or long form videos.
Facebook has a history of introducing features on Instagram to try and offer a similar service as a competitor. The Stories feature on Instagram was considered a clone of Snapchat.
In fact, this isn't even the first time Facebook tried to create a TikTok competitor. Remember Lasso?
Well, he finally did it. On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order that essentially bans TikTok's parent company. (More on what that means for TikTok creators, below.)In today's Internet Insider:
A Week of Very Good Memes
What Will Happen to TikTok Subcultures?
Streaming Review: She Dies Tomorrow
A Week of Very Good Memes
Since mid-March, meme culture has revolved around our new reality—quarantining at home, not seeing family or friends, wearing masks, not taking vacations, and working from home (if you’re lucky enough to have work). There’s also plenty of depression and isolation memes, which existed pre-coronavirus but now feel particularly relevant.
In the last few weeks, we’ve seen more “classic” memes emerge that aren’t about the dumpster fire year that is 2020, and it’s a welcome relief. Sure, cake memes died shortly after they went viral, but thinking about objects and people who could actually be cake was a distraction from our nightly doomscrolling. This week gave us even more good memes—so many that it was hard to pick one for my “meme of the week” entry (below).
First, Jonathan Swan’s recorded interview with President Donald Trump gifted us with many stills of Swan looking perplexed, which could be applied to just about anything. Next, Rihanna taking out the trash while wearing pink heels and diamonds for a photoshoot in Harper’s Bazaar became another perfect Rihanna object-labeling meme. A picture of French rapper JNR wearing AirPods and a serious expression, paired with a screengrab of a song, became another meme to reveal what you were listening to. Finally, Reese Witherspoon started a 2020 calendar meme, which celebrities jumped on. Sure, that last one is about our current reality, but it copied a familiar meme format that Dolly Parton employed last year.
It’s definitely an improvement from last week’s memes, which included demon sperm.
TikTok is often viewed as a generator of viral dances and challenges, but there are countless subcultures and niche aesthetics that populate it, with art specific to those communities. And some of it won’t translate to other apps if a U.S. ban actually happens. What will happen to micro-communities like Juul and Teletubby TikTok? Can Shrek TikTok find another audience?
Ominously psychedelic, She Dies Tomorrow arrives with a simple premise: recovering alcoholic Amy (Kate Lyn Sheil) is absolutely certain she will die tomorrow. Actor/filmmaker Amy Seimetz wrote, produced, and directed this movie, funding the whole production with her paycheck from starring in the Stephen King moviePet Sematary. She and Kate Lyn Sheil share an interest in dark sensibilities, with Sheil (a prolific low-budget indie actor) best known for horror movies like The Sacrament and You’re Next, and the experimental docudrama Kate Plays Christine, where she plays a newscaster who killed herself on live TV.
Hulu's High Fidelity was canceled after only one season. Which is sad because it's really great and perfect for binge-watching during quarantine.
Netflix's Immigration Nation is an enraging, essential exploration of a broken system.
Timbaland's production skills are legendary in the music industry. His new class will show you how to create music every bit as irresistible as your favorite radio hits.*
