TikTokTrends week: 13
October 12th - 18th
Hi!
Welcome to week 13 of TikTokTrends.
This week, I will be covering the #BidenTownhall - #TrumpTownhall, #HunterBiden, and #CranberryDreams.
As a side note, I will be taking a week off from writing TikTokTrends. Unless the internet breaks this upcoming week, I will be back at full speed on November 1st. I will be more active on Twitter; don’t forget to follow me!
Let’s get on with this week’s content!
#BidenTownhall - #TrumpTownhall
After the cancelation of the second presidential debate, both Trump and Biden decided to do a town hall on the exact same day and time, which was naturally seen as a rating war. The news of the debate being canceled came after Trump contracted Covid-19 and Biden’s campaign asked for a virtual debate, which Trump declined to attend.
In the TikTok video above, Hank Green explains his thoughts on why the two town halls were at the same time and day: “It’s so that [Trump] can brag that he got better ratings than Joe Biden.” Hank continues to say, “If we wanted to prevent Donald Trump from having this very small win, we could all watch the Joe Biden town hall on every device we own simultaneously.”
The video by Hank Green was viewed over 4 million times the last time I saw it before it was taken down. Hank created a follow-up video saying that he was not comfortable with this kind of attention. The original TikTok video grabbed the attention of many news outlets. NY Post said that Green tried to manipulate the online rating system while Business Insider compared it to K-pop fans mass-requesting Trump rally tickets earlier this year. A video of Lacey Maries doing exactly what Green talked about in the video can be seen on TikTok.
Green has been a YouTube content creator since 2007. Hank and his brother, John, started creating videos for each other instead of using any other form of communication; they called it the “Brotherhood 2.0.” In each video, they started by greeting the other with, ‘Hi, John’, or ‘Good morning, Hank.’
Although the video above was trending, content creators on TikTok were focused on other issues surrounding the two town halls. Conservative creators had 3 main topics on TikTok that they were focusing on. The first is the unequal treatment both candidates have gotten from the moderators. Secondly, there were many videos of Mayra Joli, who was seen on screen cheering, nodding, and agreeing with all of Trump’s talking points. And finally, Savannah Guthrie, who was called a Chihuahua and the “#1 Karen.”
Democratic content creators focused on how Biden did during the town hall, stating that he did cover many of his policies and plans. Next, they focused on Savanah Guthrie pushing Trump to answer the questions. And finally, Trump not disavowing QAnon was a major topic.
#HunterBiden
Hunter Biden’s dealings in Ukraine has been a talking point for conservatives for a long time now. This week, the NY Post released an article about leaked emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop that was apparently left at a repair shop, and the contents were given to Rudy Giuliani.
The video above was shared by the ConservativeHypeHouse. It has gotten over 120 thousand views. It is in no way trending on TikTok; however, #HunterBiden has over 6 million views, bringing it closer to the political trend numbers. In the video, Ted Cruz is seen talking about the story by NY Post and how Facebook and Twitter decided to block the spread of the news article and that the companies are “actively interfering with the elections.” The clip was taken from this video that was aired by C-Span.
Facebook and Twitter did limit the reach of the news articles on their platforms, stating that the article was not fact-checked and was unsubstantiated. Twitter later reversed their censoring of the article.
On TikTok, much of the conversation coming from the conservative side focused on the article being censored on social media and Joe Biden lying about not knowing anything about Hunter’s work in Ukraine. On the other side, content creators were talking about how similar these leaks are to Hillary’s email leaks in 2016 and couldn't believe that the laptop was forgotten at a repair store.
#CranberryDreams
Last week, I talked a little about this trend but didn’t go too deep into it. The trend started with Nathan Apodaca, aka 420DogFace280, posting a video of himself riding on a skateboard and drinking cranberry juice while listening to ‘chill’ music by Fleetwood Mac called Dreams.
The clip went viral with thousands of people remaking the video. On TikTok, over 200 thousand videos were made with the same song playing in the background. The original post was watched around 60 million times and has gained the attention of brands, politicians, and celebrities.
The video above was posted by Isaiah Acosta and it has garnered over 40 million views and 5 million likes. Acosta is a rapper who grew in popularity in 2017 when he was named the first mute rapper. He was born without a lower jaw. He is unable to eat, breathe, or speak. With the help of rapper, Trap House, Acosta was able to reach an audience with his rap. In 2017, they released their first rap song “Oxygen to Fly” that talks about Acosta’s life and struggles.
Acosta has been on podcasts, Ted Talks, live TV, and has a documentary about his life. His sense of humor and the way he carries himself is really worth seeing. Acosta posted his first video on TikTok in March and has since gained 790 thousand followers and over 12 million likes.
In the video above, Acosta is seen riding his skateboard to the Fleetwood Mac song, Dreams, while holding an Ocean Spray cranberry juice and drinking it with a tube that is attached to his stomach. The top comment is by Ocean Spray Inc. saying, “The vibes are unmatched. Nothing can keep you down!!”
The #CranberryDreams trend is not one of your classic TikTok trends. It’s not a dance, the movement is not hard to mimic, it is not high-paced, and there really isn’t a challenge, but the positive vibes and feelings viewers have gotten are real. People have reacted, saying that the clip is very calming and relaxing. Seeing Nathan Apodaca enjoy his ride as much as he does has gotten many people's spirits up, which is something that many people need during these hard times.
One of the biggest moments of the trend was Mick Fleetwood and Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac joining TikTok just to recreate the video. At 73 years old, Mick is seen riding what seems to be a skateboard while drinking Cranberry Juice. Stevie is seen putting on her rollerblades with an Ocean Spray bottle seen in the frame. Other celebrities include Shakira, Dr. Phil, Jimmy Fallon, and notably the leader of the Canadian New Democratic Party, Jagmeet Singh.
Of course, Ocean Spray was quick to capitalize on the fame, posting a video collage on TikTok and buying Nathan Apodaca a Truck. The company has also been active on Twitter and has been seen commenting on many videos on TikTok, getting their brand name more reputation.
Here is a compilation video of many of the great choreographies people have done reacting to Apodaca’s original video.
In Other News
TikTok has separated their servers from ByteDance. This week, The Verge reported that the company has already separated the servers. Roland Cloutier, the global chief security officer for TikTok, explains that “The software stack comprising TikTok is 'entirely separate' from the Douyin software stack.” The new court filing by TikTok goes into some of the inaccurate statements the Commerce Department has made. The TikTokBan is still underway to start on November 12th if a deal is not reached. A final decision for the TikTokBan is to be set on November 2nd by Judge Nicholas.
Oracle CEO, Larry Ellison, donated to Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) reelection campaign. The Verge reported that Ellison donated $250,000 to Security is Strength PAC on September 14th. Oracle and Walmart are set to become TikTok’s American partners if a deal is made.
The #AppleEvent was held this week. Apple unveiled their new iPhone lineups, starting from an iPhone Mini going all the way to the iPhone Pro Max. On TikTok, the event was either reacted to, or content creators used their platform to summarize the event, showing viewers the important parts of the 1-hour presentation.
That is all for this week! Please share this newsletter if you enjoyed reading it. And don’t be shy to send me an email about what you think I should cover, or if I have missed anything. - Here is my Twitter!
As mentioned above, I will most likely not be sending out an email next week but will be back at full speed, with new ideas and plans on November 1st.
Thank you for reading!