is that really a harmless tiktok trend?

maybe i'm being 'soft' but let me say something real quick

Like every other (supposedly) self-respecting adult, I spend far too much time on TikTok. No trip to the bathroom is complete without my phone, just in case I need some scrolling to pass the time. I have never created a TikTok, or even posted one, and yet I easily spend a couple of hours a day on the app. I’d love to claim it’s related to my work as a trends and entertainment writer, but even I’m not that delulu.

I’ve seen my fair share of viral sounds, and I always loved the creativity of it all. One boy talking about his love for corn became a song to rival The Tortured Poets Department. A throwaway line about soup from HBO’s Girls became my instinctual thought every time the bland food came into conversation. And let’s not forget the rabid joy of Pedro Pascal eating toast. From “Flowers” to “Karma,” TikTok dictates the song we’ll be humming to ourselves in the shower.

So when the Illegally Blonde girl came onto my TikTok, I didn’t bat an eye. I should also mention that I’m a raging musical theatre fan, to the extent that I can recreate the entirety of Hamilton while drunk, and have done so previously. I like to think that if I had talent, I could be the next Lea Michele (only I can read.) I love Legally Blonde the Musical, and this wasn’t the first time I had seen the sales assistant role take an…interesting turn.

But this time, it felt less funny. As I watched famous Broadway stars like Ben Platt use the sound with deadpan eyes and terrible acting, I wasn’t as amused as I had been with the corn song. Because I couldn’t help wondering if she was watching her 5 minutes of fame, and whether it hurt her feelings.

I know, I know, I’m being “soft” about harmless TikTok trends. But at what point do they stop being harmless? Well, as a self-appointed expert on trends, here’s what I think. It stops being ‘harmless’ when:

• When they didn’t upload the content themselves. This was filmed by an adult in attendance and put online, not by the young actress in question. If someone is choosing to share content, then go rogue with it, as they’ve given their consent. We know what TikTok is like, and that doesn’t excuse the horrific trolling that happens, but does allow for the use of sounds and trending content. If the person involved filmed themselves and uploaded it, go wild, friends. 

• When the individual is a child. A literal child. Maybe as an adult, I’d find it funny to see people roasting my drunken performances of “Satisfied,” but as a kid, I’d probably sob into my pillow. Being young is hard enough and filled with self-doubt, now her whole school is probably quoting this song to her. The youth are on TikTok!! Don’t forget that.

Viral culture seems harmless because we don’t know what it feels like or the long-term effects of it. We might be instilling in the participant a lifelong fear of social media, to the extent that they won’t hit the dance floor at a wedding or join group pics on holiday. Five minutes of fame feels very long, probably as long as the summer holidays when you were ten years old or a Monday morning Zoom call with your manager now. It’s time to bring responsibility into TikTok and trend culture, even if that’s just calling kids off-limits. The bar is low people, so let’s bend down to it and focus on adult influencers instead.

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who wrote this?

Fleurine Tideman is a fake Brit whose passport claims she is Dutch. She writes for Betches, Pop Sugar, Marie Claire, Insider, and Screenshot. Her work is usually accompanied by a twenty-syllable coffee order and an unhinged Taylor Swift playlist. Find her on Twitter @byfleurine or Instagram @fleurinetideman.

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