TikTok's 'what are you listening to' videos enter their villain era
The discourse is scorching on TikTok this week, as those seemingly harmless on-the-street videos face backlash from viewers who argue that not everything, and everyone, is content.
Meanwhile, a new phone-flipping trend has already ignited major celeb drama by way of JoJo Siwa, and filters are the new fanfic. And if you want to know what that means, then you have to check out this week's TikTok trends.
Discourse of the week
Back in Oct. 2021 "what are you listening to" videos made a comeback on TikTok. The genre has since expanded to incorporate a wide variety of questions, from "what do you do for a living?" to "what's the biggest red flag in a partner?" Many creators have built their entire brand around these on-the-street interviews, but as these types of videos gain momentum on the app, larger questions of consent and what we owe strangers have started brewing. It’s starting to feel increasingly like you could be recorded at any moment and wind up on someone else’s account with hundreds of thousands of views. These concerns came to a head in response to a video posted by @thebingbuzz on Wednesday (July 27).
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The video is a compilation of the creator asking strangers what their favorite place to eat in Brooklyn Heights is, but the catch is that every single person declines to answer the question. The video has accumulated over 6.6 million likes. And the comment section is divided. Half of the viewers are taken aback by the strangers' reluctance to participate in the video, while the other side advocates on their behalf. Comments include, "wow what a friendly area," "they took more time to give an excuse," and "they all didn't pass the vibe check." While others say, "yeah how dare people say no to a stranger shoving a camera in their face," and "no way y'all are offended these ppl don’t wanna stop for some woman shoving a camera in their face."
We're moments away from cultural analysis TikTok explaining the ethics of mining strangers for content, and I’ll eat it up.
Phone flipping
Celebs and normies alike are flashing their phones to a sped-up version of "Stir Fry" by Migos.
The latest game to play on TikTok is to pose a juicy question to your viewers and then quickly flash the answer on your phone. There's two ways to play the game: the celeb way and the regular way. Celebs like Meghan Trainer are flashing their phones to the camera, a very bold move considering you can download TikToks and watch them frame by frame, while regular people are just recording themselves flashing their answers to their friends. The normie way is way less fun, and I would argue it doesn't need to be made into a TikTok. Just talk shit with your friends, you guys! You don't need to record it.
On the celeb side, the trend has given us some juicy little nuggets. JoJo Siwa revealed that Miley Cyrus is the nicest celebrity she's ever met… and sparked internet drama with Fuller House star Candace Cameron Bure, who she claims is the rudest star she's met. If you're going to flip the phone, you need to commit to the bit!
Letting a filter decide your life
Earlier this year, back when Euphoria was running TikTok, creators were inserting themselves into the drama by letting the "which Euphoria character are you?" filter decide who they're dating and friends with in the messy, fictional universe. The latest iteration of the trend has TikTokkers pretending to run into someone from their hometown and letting a filter dictate their life. The creator keeps playing along, no matter how absurd their life ends up being. Think of it as letting TikTok turn your life into a fanfic.
Alexa Rowe, the actress behind @pooty_yipyip, is the star of the trend. She’s made videos using a Stranger Things filter where she runs into someone from Hawkins — and others where she meets a fellow Hogwarts alumni from the Harry Potter universe. I don't know about you, but that sounds way more entertaining than shifting.
Topics TikTok
Elena is a tech reporter and the resident Gen Z expert at Mashable. She covers TikTok and digital trends. She recently graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in American History. Email her at [email protected] or follow her @ecaviar_.
