Tik Tok and Summer Reading

My obsession with Tik Tok led me to share a few of my favorite videos, plus some of the books that made it to my summer reading list.

Am I alone in feeling that this year is going super fast? We are already in the sixth month of the year, and it is crazy to think about. I have spent the past few months of the pandemic on my Marie Kondo flow, getting rid of the things that don't bring me joy. And with that, I've been doing a lot of cleansing of my social media life. 

As many of you know, I spent a lot of years working in social media either on the consumer side as the voice and community manager of a brand, on the business side selling services to other businesses, or most recently in employee advocacy helping leaders and employees develop and define their brand's digitally. Social media used to be my bae like quick weaves with the glue - had no point, but I was going for a poetic thing to show growth. Profoundly, social media was something I found solace in and used to grow and cultivate a community, but now, it's been either overly time-consuming or tedious. I have either cut or reduced my social media use and find that my favorite platform right now is TikTok. 

I love TikTok. 

I don't create videos for TikTok aside from the one time I tried to recreate my favorite video: "Phew, Phew, Phew. Hold up. Wait a minute," with the big head. I only have three friends on TikTok, and a follow from a person I am convinced thinks I'm either beautiful or could be a bot, and I honestly think that's the appeal of TikTok - the anonymity. I can watch videos of strangers and laugh or learn new things to eat or trends to try. 

Here are a few of my favorite Tik Tok's to get you through the day: 

I know this choreography in full and still believe Britney Spears' "I'm a Slave For You" is still one of the best videos of all time. I would say fight me on this, but I'm too cute to fight - this also just made me think of Teedra Moses' "You Better Tell Her." 

Kaavia Wade is my favorite, and I love this video of her in heels. 

Not sure why these people have a duck in their house, but I wish he'd let her do her yoga. 

"Juju on the beat" will always be my favorite viral dance. 

Nachos that I want to make with Bell Peppers vs. Tortilla chips. 

I have always enjoyed watching people fall (unless a severe fall) and laugh when I fall thus;, I found these two videos very funny: fall #1 and fall #2.

Also not sure why these college students were doing these trust exercises with random people, but I also found these to be very funny: Part 1 and Part 2

This video makes me miss home because whenever this song comes on, it's like this. 

And here are three videos from my favorite person on TikTok: one about Cucumber tasting like Watermelon, another food tutorial, and a fashion tutorial.

See, it’s a magical place. Not really magical, but it’s an entertaining place to be.

Here are a few interesting articles also that I recently read about Tik Tok.

TikTok, the Fastest Way on Earth to Become a Food Star

Pretty interesting article about how TikTok is creating a new age of food stars. Although the platform was popular before the pandemic, Food TikTok became more popular during the pandemic as many people were home cooking and trying different recipes. This is why whipped coffee and baked feta pasta were popular recently - two things I still never tried, although I am confident I would like both.

“The thing that makes TikTok outstanding compared to any other platform is the speed of scale. If something goes viral, you can go from zero to millions of followers in a matter of months. That’s really hard to do if you take a traditional trajectory.”

“The trend we’re noticing is younger and younger talent making a name for themselves as a result of adopting the platform.”

TikTok and the Vibes Revival

This article says “vibe” a lot and even goes into a history of what the word means. That wasn’t the interesting part of the article, just something I thought was worth calling out. I did find some of what was captured in this article was worth reading, however:

“Whereas Instagram’s main form is the composed tableau, captured in a single still image or unedited video, TikTok’s is the collection of real-world observations, strung together in a filmic montage. (Though last year Instagram added a new feature, Reels, in an attempt to compete.) TikTok’s technology makes it easy to crop video clips and set them to evocative popular songs: instant vibes. Its “For You” feed curates a mélange of content algorithmically, based on each user’s patterns of engagement. The result is a platform that runs on vignettes, superficial flashes of discrete sensation.”

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Here are some things I thought were worth sharing this week:

I’m excited to dive into my Summer of reading. I got four new books over the past week and am excited to start reading. If you are reading any of these books and want to chat about them - hit me up:

• The Housewives by Brian Moylan

• The Ugly Cry by Danielle Henderson

• Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford

• The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

I still can’t get over how good the new albums from Topaz Jones (Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma) and Sinead Harnett (Ready is Always Too Late) are.

A Day-in-the-Life of External Toxic Body Messaging 

I loved this article with Lauren London. I've always liked her in the past, but after the passing of Nipsey Hussle, I want to give her a huge hug.

“It’s little miracles that happen every day that we ignore.”

The Obsession with “Getting Ahead” in Your Twenties Is Failing Young People

“Our society—our systems of work and education, our fixation on what can be classified as an achievement or a failure, our brisk, catch-up conversations where soundbite answers make you seem like you have it together—loves it when we’re on track.”

If you know me, you know that The Real Housewives franchise is my thing. I watch them all and am pretty excited to see that they are finally adding diversity to some of the shows like Beverly Hills, Dallas, and New York. On New York, they added a black lady, Eboni Williams, because contrary to what is shown on SATC and previous seasons of RHONY, black people do live in New York. I knew of Eboni for a few years from her appearances on The Breakfast Club and State of the Culture and think she has been a great fit so far, and this is a great article about her:

“It’s never too late to do the right thing. I just believe this was the right moment, and I think I’m really blessed to feel like I might be the exact right person for this moment and this group of women.”

Ending this week with two articles about podcasts. The first is about if celebrities are watering down the podcast market, and the second a list of some of the best podcasts of 2021.

That’s it for this week — catch you next week!
XOXO, Gossip Girl (it’s coming back)