TikTokTrends Week: 8
Week of September 7.
Hi again!
Great to have you here and welcome to week 8 of TikTokTrends!
This week I will be talking about #ThatVideo, #StandWithSophie, #MtotheB and go a little deeper into #SaveTheChildren.
Let’s start!
Trigger warning: Content related to self-harm ahead.
#ThatVideo
The hashtag refers to a video of a man committing suicide during a livestream on Facebook. While the hashtag itself was not trending, the content related to it was, at one point this week. We will not be going into the details of the video here.
The video was shared on TikTok but was quickly removed by the app. Users stopped using words like suicide and began referring to the clip as ‘that video.’ Videos talking about the suicide began circulating on TikTok, and reports of the app trying to stop the spread emerged.
The video above is a commentary of a clip where young children are reacting to ‘that video.’ John Bell, the creator, shows the viewers a clip of three young kids, seemingly watching ‘that video’ and laughing at one of them being shocked at the content they have just witnessed. Bell goes into how disturbing the footage is, and how it may traumatize any child.
The children’s video blew up on TikTok getting millions of views in the couple of hours that it was up, with most comments disapproving the actions of the kids and shaming their laughter. The clip, which was posted by a user named Jennifer Spamzzz, was deleted along with the account. But I was able to find a new account she created, making a video to apologize to her viewers for laughing at this traumatic event.
Bell’s video was also watched and shared millions of times, gaining a lot of traction from viewers outraged by the actions of the kids in the clip.
I did not come across ‘that video’ on TikTok, however many have reported seeing it on the app. Raising concerns about children coming across the video, the app quickly moved to stop its spread. As did other social media platforms.
The family and friends of the man who took his life started a social media campaign called #ReformForRonnie, in an effort to stop the spread of the video, flag content that was still being shared on various social media platforms and to hold social media companies accountable.
It is not the first time social media companies are being criticized for not acting quickly in such situations. Facebook was highly criticized in the past for failing to act quick enough to stop the spread of the New Zealand mosque shooting. While Instagram was also put under the spotlight during the Bianca Davins murder back in 2019.
Every platform has its own way of dealing with this type of content. A TikTok spokesperson has told Newsweek that they use automation to prevent these sorts of videos to surface and they are banning accounts with repeated violations. Facebook says they use machine learning technologies to identify certain types of harmful text and imagery. Twitter says they have a team that assesses reports sent by people worried about someone's mental health.
Although TikTok can definitely be as toxic as the rest, there are people who are trying to make the platform a better place for young users. Teens on the platform have also taken it upon themselves to start conversations on mental health issues like depression, anxiety and sexual abuse.
David Puder, a physician uses the platform to spread mental health awareness. Similarly, Courtney Tracy, a therapist and TikToker, is trying to shine a light on mental health issues to the younger population. While this is in no way actual therapy, these users are starting conversations around mental health among teens and younger adults on the platform.
#StandWithSophie
This trend was started by a viral video on YouTube about a girl named Sophie Long, claiming that she had been abused by her stepfather in her mother’s home and refusing to go back there. The 20-minute video, posted by Sophie’s biological father, Michael Long, has since been taken down from the platform for as yet unknown reasons.
The situation got even more attention when Michael shared in an Facebook Live that there was an ongoing custody battle between him and Sophies’ mother, Kelly Marie Mitton, for their three children. This news sparked people to create a GoFundMe campaign on August 21, to help Michael with legal fees. More than nine thousand people have donated $205,000 so far.
A one-minute clip of the video, where Sophie is seen trying to explain what she went through to her grandmother, went viral onTikTok. The StandWithSophie hashtag has gained over 78 million views on and many YouTube channels have started covering the case, sharing court livestreams and other information that they claim to have been gathering independently.
The video above, a screen recording of a video posted on Facebook by Channel 27 News on September 5 showing Sophie reuniting with her biological father,was watched four million times in a matter of days.
The video comes after the court hearing where the judge gave custody to Michael until the next trial in November, where the five-year custody battle between him and Mitton will likely be resolved.
Many YouTube channels emerged, making daily content about Sophie, explaining the situation, backing it with images and pictures they found online. Their videos, mostly live streams that have between 100,000 and 200,000 views, have created an online community in itself.
I took a quick look at some of these channels. Many of them are seen creating videos on other court cases like the Chris Watts case or the infamous Free Britney issue. Other creators are seen to go deeper into conspiracy theories, and posting pro-Trump content. These videos, however, are not reliable sources of information on the cases. They largely rely on Facebook posts as sources and combine their opinions with facts in their explanations.
Content related to #StandWithSophie also started carrying the hashtag SaveOurChildren on online forums. This brings us to our next topic.
#SaveOurChildren
Last week I touched on a very similar hashtag, SaveTheChildren, which has been trending largely due to the right-wing conspiracy movement, QAnon. Continuing its trend of infiltrating child abuse related hashtags online, the movement seems to be using #SaveOurChildren as well.
While there aren’t as many videos from accounts possibly associated with QAnon using the hashtag StandWithSophie, the movement has indirect opportunities to reel in users searching for content related to Sophie as many of those videos use the hashtags SaveTheChildren and SaveOurChildren.
A small distinction of note between content related to #SaveTheChildren and #SaveOurChildren on TikTok: While the former has been taken over by more right wing political and conspiracy theory related content, #SaveOurChildren is still largely used by TikToker’s talking about child trafficking and abuse.
The SaveTheChildren hashtag was started by a British nonprofit called ‘Save the Children’, which collects donations to help children in need across the world. On TikTok, while the hashtag itself is not widely used on posts, conservative content creators use it as a profile picture. I looked at the profiles of 30 such accounts. Half of them were conservative leaning, posting things about the Bible and right-wing political content. Many of the other half, were private accounts, not giving any information about the user. They were seemingly unused accounts, with a very small number of followers.
A little insight into how the QAnon movement operates: I was reading an older newsletter by David Farrier on #SaveTheChildren, where he explains how the Church of Scientology tried to reel people into its movement using Covid-19 information in Auckland. The Church shared booklets containing a QR Code, which at first glance seemed to share guidelines on tha pandemic. However, it actually led people to an online course called 'Solutions for a Dangerous Environment,’ with a synopsis that claims Scientology can "help relieve the mental anguish" of isolation brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
This is how the QAnon movement works as well. Using an actual issue such as child abuse and its associated hashtags, the movemet tries to get people to read its misinformation and convince them of a larger conspiracy. QAnon supporters were earlier spreading misinformation and feeding conspiracy theories using hashtags like , #Q, #WWG1WGA and #QAnon till they were all banned.
However, when people search #SaveTheChildren on TikTok, they can easily find content on how California is supposedly legalizing pedophiles alongside genuine information about Sophie’s case and other child abuse issues. Other conspiracy theories peddled by the QAnon movement on platforms like 4Chan, such as actor Tom Hanks being part of a sex traficking ring and Hillary Clinton kidnaping children, can also be found on TikTok with the #SaveTheChildren.
Stay tuned for more information about QAnon and SaveTheChildren!
#MtotheB
The MtotheB hashtag has 4.7 million videos and over 500 million views. The hashtag refers to a song created by British Grime artist Millie B, known for her diss tracks against another Grimme rapper Sophie Aspin, in 2016. The song started to gain traction in the States when Bella Poarch, a popular TikToker, posted a video lip-syncing to the very catchy chorus of the song about a month ago.
The video which doesn’t actually use the hashtag but now has over 350 million views on TikTok, seemingly lit the fire for the song that has now gained popularity in the States. Poarch’s video uses a popular TikTok effect where the camera motion follows the creator’s head movements,creating a fluid clip which the viewer can just watch over and over again. The first time I remember seeing this effect was in a video by Emma Norton, where she lip-syncs to a song, using the same camera motions and fluid facial expressions, where I found myself watching it repeatedly.
As the hashtag MtotheB spread on TikTok in the U.S., the song got a little revision, where someone else sang it in a slightly different tune. And British TikTokers did not particularly enjoy the new version. Many posted videos of their reaction to the remixed version, arguing that the Grime song should have stayed as it was. Some even said, “Why do Americans have to ruin everything?” Even Millie B herself got on TikTok to express her dislike of the new version.
In Other News:
Microsoft will not be buying TikTok. On Sunday, Sept. 13, Microsoft anounced that their proposal was declined by TikTok’s parent Company ByteDance. Earlier that day, TikTok anounced that they would not be sell their algorithm. Oracle is continuing to pursue the deal and is currently looking like the most likly canidate to aquire the the social media platform.
Reacting to WAP. The controversial hit song WAP, by Cardi B and Meghan Three Stallion, continues to be the top trend on TikTok. The dance and lyrics have been trending on TikTok eversince the song debuted on Aug. 7. Currently there are many TikTok videos posting reactions of their family members to the lyrics of the song. And it is quite hilarious to watch!
That’s all I have for this week! Don’t forget to subscribe, share, and let me know if you think there’s an interesting TikTok trend I should be talking about! – Here is my Twitter!
Thank you for reading, hope to see you next !
A huge thank you to Nikitha Sattiraju for helping me edit this Newsletter!