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Tobias's avatar

Saw some negative comments here, so just wanted to say that IMO this is very well though-out poignant and generous. Especially how you empathize with these creators, which is MUCH more than what average tik tok users grant to large influencers. Some comments here make me think about how our generation seems to have a really hard time parsing out thoughtful critique from cyber-bullying, feedback, cancellation, etc. Not saying that these are easy distinctions, but anyone that's gone viral on Tik Tok (as I have, somewhat unfortunately) knows that one of the primary experiences is being misunderstood and misrepresented. I think Tik Tok and Twitter are powerful vehicles for decontextualizing content. And I feel like that's spilling into "the real world" and *the discourse*. Also, I have a Substack called Gen Zero, and we talk about similar things re: our generational culture! Congrats on the piece woo

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Sia's avatar

Hmmmmm... some of this is accurate and some not so much. As an avid millennial tiktok user I (of course) have some thoughts.

1. The rise of Bella Poarch was accompanied by MANY Gen Z detractors who stitched THAT famous video with evidence that she is an industry plant. Some pointed out that she shot all her videos in a hotel room, that the algo was definitely being manipulated in her favor and other strange phenomena that didn’t add up. They knew her rise was NOT organic and called it from day 1.

2. Doja Cat blew up with Mooo!. A ridiculous YouTube video that went viral in 2018 before tiktoks domination. Megan blew up after releasing multiple mixtapes and grinding the old fashioned way.

3. While there is a lot of mediocrity on tiktok, as on any other platform, there are also countless thoughtful creators from all age groups sharing interesting and sometimes mind blowing content. Juilliard students sharing their practices with us, amazing life hacks, historians breaking down history from under represented POVs and so forth. This has spawned the in-platform joke “Tiktok university”

4. Spot on about Charli and Addison though!

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