TikTokTrends Week: 22
December 21st - December 27th
Hi!
Welcome to week 22 of TikTokTrends!
Great to have you here; thank you for sticking around for 22 weeks, and for all the newcomers, welcome! I hope everyone is having a nice holiday season!
This week I will be talking about #Nashville, #PragerU, and #Christmas.
Let's dive right in!
Trigger warning: Disturbing footage of the Nashville blast ahead.
#Nashville
Early Friday morning, in Nashville, Tennessee, a large explosion broke the silence. The blast came from a parked RV, right after an evacuation warning was blasting out of the RV speakers. Police went to the area due to calls of gunshots and heard the announcement coming from the vehicle. The announcement could be heard from nearby CCTV footage: "If you can hear this message, evacuate now," the sound said. Police were quick to evacuate people from the area. The explosion injured at least three people, and it was later understood that the bomber was killed during the explosion. The explosion took place close to one of AT&T's transmission buildings, which caused widespread outages that continued on Saturday.
On TikTok, CCTV footage of the explosion quickly spread, showing the blast's intense scenes and the wreckage that happened afterward.
The video above shows one of the angles taken from CCTV footage showing the moment of the explosion. The large blast was seen to shatter windows and burst open doors in the area. Federal officials have announced that they have identified the bomber as Anthony Warner and that he had died in the blast. The announcement came after the FBI had narrowed down the suspects, with Warner being a key suspect. Before the announcement, news of a similar RV seen on Google Street View on Warner's property was being circulated online; the image is dated May 2019.
TikTok users were geared up to spread conspiracy theories about the explosion. Many conservative content creators were seen posting videos about how the democrats, BLM or Antifa most likely did the bombing, mainly to cover-up the election fraud that Trump and his supporters believe in.
Content creators went deep into conspiracy theories, connecting AT&T to Dominion Voting Systems and The NSA. Saying At&T was bombed, not an RV, and tying it all to the Patriot Act. The conspiracies go far beyond a couple of content creators. Many on the right were creating videos without using any sources to spew conspiracy theories to scare the public and undermine the presidential election results.
Users on social media quickly connected the bomb to the election, mainly due to a theory that AT&T has a contract to Audit the Dominion Voting Systems. The conspiracy theory is that the bomb had been detonated to destroy the machines that were being audited by AT&T, in Nashville, to cover-up evidence of voter fraud. There is no evidence to any of this; Snopes has rated it as false, adding that AT&T and Dominion have disclaimed these accusations.
Not all content creators were posting misinformation; journalists and news organizations on the app were seen sharing the information they know along with the press briefings the police and FBI were having. Some content creators were also sharing how they experienced the explosion in Nashville and other images and videos of the blast. Others were sharing their memories from the street where the bombing occurred.
#PragerU
Prager University, no, it's not a university, has recently been getting a lot of attention due to its right-wing views. PragerU is a media company co-founded by Allen Estrin and Dennis Prager. As stated on their website, they aim to "change the minds through the creative use of digital media." PragerU does this mainly by using multiple social media accounts, including Instagram and YouTube, to publish right-leaning videos to engage their audience.
PragerU has most recently gained a lot of negative traction because of their video defending the actions of Robert E. Lee. They used some of his quotes like "Blacks are immeasurably better of here than in Africa," and making it seem as stopping the attempted slave rebellion was a positive note in Lee's history.
The video above was published by PragerU on TikTok. The man in the video is co-founder Dennis Prager. The footage shows Prager asking viewers to tell him that they are conservative without saying they are conservative. This is an ongoing trend on TikTok, called #TellMeChallenge. Content creators ask questions like "Tell me you are from Kansas without saying you are from Kansas" or "Tell me you're a liberal without actually telling me that you're a liberal."
Content creators answered Prager's question, although probably not exactly how Prager wanted it to be answered. Many non-conservative TikTok’ers can be seen responding by licking their boots, saying they 'commit hate crimes,' and cutting their masks as a joke. There, of course, were conservatives answering the call as well; some can be seen posting their flags, others were seen showcasing their car and their 'back the blue' emblem.
Prager University does not have a large following on TikTok; they have about 50 thousand. However, on Instagram and YouTube, they have collectively reached over 4 million followers and have a very active base supporting their content.
The videos they create for YouTube, which is their most popular platform, can be summed up into three main categories. The first is interviews with right-leaning spokespeople, including names like Candice Owens and Ted Cruz. The second is short explainer videos, usually using high-quality graphics and animations to support the content. This ranges from talking about Robert E. Lee to “How to steal an Election: Mail-In Ballots.” Finally, the third category is one person talking to the camera about a specific topic; this can be “Is capitalism Evil?” or “Lockdowns hurt more than they help.”
A lot of their content is misleading, untrustworthy, and filled with biases towards the Republican party. PragerU does an excellent job hiding behind the news-like content they create to come off as trustworthy and transparent. I expect to see PragerU much more active on TikTok; some of the content they create can easily be condensed into 1-minute clips, reaching more people and gaining more attention.
#Christmas2020
It was Christmas last Friday; although the Nashville explosion came as a shock to everyone, many managed to keep their spirits high. Videos on TikTok of people opening, wrapping, and making fun of their gifts were trending this week.
The video above got over 13 million views in a day and is part of a viral trend this Christmas. The video starts with the grandson opening a present from his grandmother. The present is a card, in it is a lot of money! As the grandson looks past the money and reads the card, all the money falls on the table, reading: "Merry Christmas from nana and Marco." The joke is acting like there was no money at all, which I can bet many of us have done in the past, at least I have.
TikTok was full of videos of gifts that users have gotten, pranks that were pulled on family members, and videos of incredible Christmas decorations.
In Other News
It was the Year of TikTok. TikTok has recently released their #TheYearonTikTok series, showcasing the top 100 videos of the app. It's a great list if you are interested in the various challenges, songs, dances, and events that happened throughout the year on the platform.
TikTok on TV? Say farewell to calmly watching TV during dinner. TikTok has now partnered with Samsung, and their smart TV's will now be launching with the TikTok app pre-installed. It will now be easier than ever to show the whole family the amazing new trends and dances on TikTok. I bet parents are thrilled about this news!
Live New Year's Eve party! TikTok will be hosting a live New Year’s Eve event, featuring Jason Derulo, Saweetie, Cardi B, and Mick Fleetwood. The event will be live on TikTok, starting December 31st at 9 pm est. The new year celebration also includes a special update for iPhone 12 users; a new confetti effect will be added to the app to celebrate the new year's!
That is all I have for this week! I hope everyone will have a great new year's day, and I’m looking forward to 2021!
Let me know what you think by hitting reply to this email or sending me a DM through Twitter!
Thank you for reading; I hope to see you next week, on Sunday!