Things I Learned at TikTok University
I love TikTok, as previously established here, and here, and it’s also a great educational resource, as mentioned here. Here are even MORE things I have learned as a student at TikTok University.
Ok I didn’t know this until recently, but while captioning is good and necessary, you need to ACTUALLY CAPTION what is being said. Don’t summarize! If you said, “I was at the mall and then I went to the pet store, then Trader Joe’s where I got this mango” write that! If you’re caption reads, “I was running errands and I got this mango” sure, you’re ending up at the same place, but captions need to be precisely what is being said. (Also don’t put ALL your words in one big, small block of text. Space it out, make it legible.) I love that more and more people are putting captions on videos, and I REALLY love when people are learning and growing and sharing that growth with their audience, like in the TikTok below. Not making mistakes is good, but acknowledging your mistakes and then making sure to not repeat them? AMAZING. (AHEM. Some TikToks I’ve posted do not have captions. I know and I’m sorry!)
@theconsciouslee Reply to @prizesapphire09 deconstructing ableism ##ableism ##deaftiktok ##disability ##theconsciouslee
♬ Didn't Cha Know - Erykah Badu
I have a glass shower door. It’s not even actually a door, because my shower isn’t entirely enclosed, it’s more like a glass partition. The great thing about glass shower partitions/doors is that they make small bathrooms seem much larger. The bad thing is that if you get any soap or streaks or whatever on it, it’s VERY obvious. This video changed how I clean my shower glass, and was far more effective than methods I found through Googling (I don’t know WHO vinegar and newspaper works for, but God bless I guess, you freak.)
@allisonscleanin Lets ##clean some ##glassshowerdoors with ##soapscum using one of my all time favorites ##scrubfree - ##fyp ##cleaninghacks ##cleaningtiktok ##vivacleanhacks
♬ Cradles - Jason Disik
Every day I get more and more enthusiastic in my belief that everyone who has limits to their abilities (even if it’s just in certain situations, or just sometimes) should call themselves disabled. Asthma? Dyslexia? Food intolerance? YOU’RE DISABLED, BABY! I was disabled for YEARS before I came to this realization! It will only benefit the disabled community for more people to acknowledge the disabled community. Imani is one of my favorite content creators and disability activists, and I love this video explaining that the ADA says everyone is welcome.
@crutches_and_spice Reply to @missmckc welcome to the island, my dear. ##inclusion ##disability ##SwitchTheChobaniFlip
♬ original sound - Crutches&Spice ♿️ :
I spent a LOT of time looking for fitness accounts on social media that weren’t about visibly changing your body. A LOT OF TIME. They are…. upsettingly hard to find. But I did! And because TikTok has a truly frightening algorithm, once I found some accounts I liked, they kept feeding me MORE. Nadine is my kind of human. They not only post HAES-aligned advice, they SHOW YOU THE STUDIES. They are into evidence-based, peer-reviewed, good old-fashioned RESEARCH. Here’s a trailer of sorts they made for their page, or as I think of it, a love letter to my own particular interests.
@_theydean_ Welcome to my page! A quick intro on what I’m about. ##fitnesstiktok ##fyp ##fitnesstips ##nonbinary ##dietculture ##weightloss ##gym ##trainer ##motivation
♬ Fader - Clutch
I follow multiple movie prop accounts (why wouldn’t I?), but I particularly love Props to History. Concise, interesting, fun trivia about movie props. This one is particularly rabbit-hole inducing:
I love this series (there are SO MANY!), and I particularly love when she refers to her other character as, “Me,” which for some reason makes me laugh EVERY TIME.
@mackenziebarmen It’s raining, it’s pouring... ☔️ 👴🏼 ##fyp ##foryourpage ##comedy ##darkcomedy ##viral ##childhoodruined ##nurseryrhyme ##actress ##actor
♬ Emotional Piano Instrumental In E Minor - Tom Bailey Backing Tracks
I only learned about “mid-size” from TikTok. The first time I saw a video where a person described themselves as mid-size? I WAS SHOCKED. It’s-a ME! This video explains what exactly mid-size is in a very understandable, concise way, that I don’t think I could ever come up with on my own. I should add: Midsize is not an oppressed group! Midsize is not your entry into the body positivity movement. I love seeing midsize accounts because I want to know, for example, what shorts will work on my body - that’s it. Please miss me with “midsize representation” or a straight size person (which many midsize folks are, me included) preaching about body positivity. It’s fat liberation or nothing, BAYBEE.
@officialmacrose Reply to @karelappel5 are you fat are u straight sized are you midsized. What are you? ##plussize ##midsize ##selflove ##bodypositivity
♬ original sound - Mac
As mentioned before, I’m trying to get more skilled at braiding my own hair. This video was a huge help and I revisit it often!
It’s so hard to know how much to tell a kid and how to explain things to them and make it comfortable and age appropriate. SO HARD! But this parent is doing a great job of not only teaching their kids but sharing how to teach YOUR kids. I love this parent. I love their content. If you are in a position to teach/inform/raise children, this is a MUST WATCH. (I would also love an animated short of this explanation of menstruation.)
@lackofimpulsecontrol Normalize body functions with your kids. It’s important. Also: uteruses menstruate, not genders. ##BodySmart ##Parenting ##FYP ##NonBinaryParenting
♬ original sound - Shug CM
Sometimes you see a TikTok that makes your jaw literally drop. I watched this three times in a row, gobsmacked. This will CHANGE LIVES. It may change mine, if I ever exercise outside my house again.
