Elite TikTok, Save Barron Trump, Sheena Melwani, Rynn Star
Our first episode was a resounding success, according to us.
Get the cliff notes and further reading below.
What is Elite TikTok?
Elite TikTok is a corner of the TikTok universe where people (mostly teenagers) create accounts for inanimate objects and personify them.
Inanimate objects doesn’t even fully cover it though—there are accounts for states, countries, colors, brands, foods, periodic elements, stores, planets.
And they all interact with others within their “group.” At least from what I’ve seen, states aren’t interacting with foods. But Florida will start a fight with Texas.
Make sense? No. Well, that’s sort of the idea.
I’d call it absurdist comedy, but honestly I don’t even think that’s it. There’s an earnestness to these accounts—likely because they’re manned by fourteen-year-olds. There’s not really a joke behind it.
It’s more like people just pretending to be something completely foreign to themselves.
For my millennial comrades, you can think of it like The Sims. And in doing so, you know that there’s always truth at the core of a make believe world. (It’s no coincidence my Sims always did their homework…)
So in Elite TikTok, we see them hosting proms, having first kisses, getting into fights, falling in love, breaking up. It’s a reflection of their reality. Just a very bizarre reflection.
What is #SaveBarronTrump?
TikTok has claimed Barron Trump as one of their own and vowed to rescue him from his oppressive life.
According to this TikTok trend, Barron is a sweet kid who doesn’t have many friends, loves anime, and just wants to be a normal kid.
Our favorite TikToks this week:
@sheenamelwnai
Sheena Melwani sings acoustic versions of your favorite pop songs as her dad (hilariously) comments on the lyrics.
Here’s a few of our favorite videos of hers:
@Rynnstar
@rynnstar creates thought-provoking and educational videos on a wide-range of topics, with a bent towards justice, civil rights, linguistics, and history.
Other videos mentioned in this episode:
Vomiting girl:
Dena’s subway video:
Dena’s Duane Reade video:
Trump rally ticket troll on TikTok:
Cottage core TikTok trend: