In a year when you never knew what might pop up on your FYP, from the Negroni Sbagliato craze to “Jiggle Jiggle,” we relied on our favorite creators to cleanse our feeds and draw us back in.
Over the course of 2022, the singular TikTok trend began to fade from prominence, replaced by niche-creator led communities. To get ahead of what we anticipate will be an even more creator-centric year on TikTok, here are the TikTokkers who kept us coming back to the app, from the absurd to the earnestly thoughtful to the beautifully eclectic.
@eleanor.stern
Whenever I find myself drifting off into the TikTok ether, Eleanor Stern pops up on my FYP and jolts me back into consciousness. Unlike most BookTok creators who cycle through the same formats and popular titles, Stern is wholly unique. You may know her from her “literary vibes” videos where she delightfully distills books into very specific feelings. For example, she accurately compares Either/Or to a seminar with a really disheveled English professor, bad ’90s vegetarian food, and reading on a bus until you get car sick.
But Stern isn’t just about vibes; she also posts short video essays of literary analysis and talks about the way we consume books in the modern age. She consistently exceeds my expectations of what a TikTokker can achieve. And most importantly, she urges me to exit the app and read one of the many essays and articles she highlights that I would never find on my own. Follow her for an academic refresh in 2023. — Elena Cavender, Culture Reporter
@Sylvaniandrama
A new era of soap operas are here in the form of outlandish Calico Critters skits. You thought the small flocked creatures were spending their days picking apples and sewing tiny little sweaters? Absolutely not. The otters are gossiping. The bunnies are cheating on their spouses. Anthropomorphic cats and dogs are being MURDERED. Popular class-conscious TV (looking at you The White Lotus) pales in comparison to the world of the Sylvanians.
While it’s easy to think of the account as yet another shitposting, skit comedy page (it is), I like to think there’s something bigger going on. It’s an absurdist nod to the internet’s obsession with childhood nostalgia — and the ways we can twist and distort those memories. It encapsulates the way reality TV and trend-heavy social media reduces complex issues and language, while heightening our consumption (I screamed when Sylvanian Drama pulled up with an ASOS sponsorship). And it’s a perfect amalgamation of millennial and Gen Z humor on an app that insists on pitting the two against each other.
The account has been around for awhile, but I still compulsively checked it every week in 2022 for new “episodes” following the misadventures of the Sylvanian crew. They’re MY Kardashians. — Chase DiBenedetto, Social Good Reporter
@myramagdalen
In TikTok’s endless feed of outfit ideas, “get dressed with me” is more dare than invitation when it comes from the mouth of Myra Magdalen, a 20-something artist, actor, and fashion designer from Alabama. Assembled in front of a bathroom wall filled with thrifted keyboards, a scroll-stopper in its own right, her hyper-specific, expertly curated, and deeply chaotic outfits pull inspiration from implausible sources — a catfish pillow, a robot caterpillar, an ocean sticker book, a bin of old remotes, duck napkin holders, the 3D Pipes Windows screensaver, the Renesemee doll from Breaking Dawn, the 2002 Dreamworks movie Spirit: Stallion of Cimarron. (Industrial-strength VELCRO is her secret weapon.) She’s the only person on the internet who can whip out a pair of hoof shoes and make me think, “Ah, yes, of course.” It’s unbridled maximalism, it’s wearable cluttercore, it’s camp, it’s unafraid to reference. The one thing it’s not is “unhinged”: Magdalen has an extensive collection of metal door hinges in her closet, thankyouverymuch. One man’s trash is another girly’s OOTD. — Haley Henschel, Shopping Reporter
@dutchdecc
My FYP looks like this: cat video, K-pop edit, cat video, “Big Boys” edit, ambient room tour, a New Yorker unpacking their hyper-specific trauma, and so on. The algorithm is me; I am the algorithm. Despite having cried on every subway line, wept along all of E. 7th Street (the NYU years were tumultuous), and been forged in the blazing flames of the New York City rental market, I still don’t know when I can call myself a New Yorker. I’ve lived here for 15 years and have a New York State ID — I don’t even drive, what’s more New York than that? — but I will never be as New York as Dutch, AKA @dutchdecc, and that brings me a sense of comfort. A born and raised New Yorker, Dutch always keeps it real (and not in the social media way of Be(ing)Real, in the “having an anxiety spiral in the bathtub” sense of realness). His authenticity is refreshing on an app where everyone’s day looks like it’s been curated by a Pinterest board.
Among the delightful “day in the life in NYC” videos and chaotic apartment updates, he creates space to talk about mental health, income inequality, identity, and local politics. It’s often been said that New Yorkers are kind but not nice, and if that’s true then Dutch is the kindest of us all. — Crystal Bell, Culture Editor
@will_sennet
Comedian Will Sennett’s TikTok account defies explanation or summarization. The dude is just strange. His brain works in ways I don’t comprehend. It should be both studied and praised. In short: He’s hilarious. I first discovered Sennett’s TikToks in 2021 when he described, in precise detail, how he would absolutely dominate Timothèe Chalamet in a 1-on-1 baseball situation. From there, I watched every chaotic video the man puts out. Here, watch this.
There is no way of predicting where Sennett will go with a bit. His characters are almost universally stupid and overly confident, but that’s about the only common denominator. Watch a Sennett Tiktok, and it might be crass beyond belief, or a short horror film, or just the dumbest thing you’ve ever seen in the absolute best way. His TikToks got me through the year, and I’m both excited and frightened to see what he does in ‘23. — Tim Marcin, Culture Reporter
@hellotefi
I love to be told what to do and this year, I very much needed to be told what to do. I moved in with my partner, broke up with friends, and, worst of all, attempted to pick up puppet-making. I don’t have a big sister to tell me that my felt frog was likely a cry for help, but I did have Estefania “Tefi” Pessoa on TikTok. Scrolling through her videos before bed or between work meetings was one of my most invaluable salvations in 2022. Beyond giving both solicited and unsolicited advice, she does these pop culture deep-dives in which she spends a considerable amount of time breaking down everything from Amy Winehouse’s life to the Don’t Worry Darling drama, videos that became treasured escapes from the monotony of my daily life. Simply, I’m obsessed with her. She once told me about her Neopets (a highlight of 2022 for me, sorry), and her transparency about her botox, her skincare, and her love for Britney Spears makes me feel more comfortable not getting botox, not having a skincare routine, and not knowing shit about Britney. Tysm, Tefi. — Christianna Silva, Senior Culture Reporter
@brettneyspears
“Wake up babe, new Brettney Spears video just dropped” became a normal greeting between my best friend and I when we began following one @brettneyspears series as religiously as new episodes of our favorite TV shows. The premise originally featured a filter that flips through various Disney characters (but has since expanded to other movies and series), paired with a not-so-G-rated hypothetical prompt. From “Would he cheat?” (obviously Gaston would) to “Would she peg someone?” (Obviously Shego would) to a record-fast “Yes, he motherfucking does” in reference to whether Aladdin knows where the G-spot is, the chaotically deep analysis with which Brett backs up his answers has brought tears to my eyes. (They’re all pinned under Cartoon Shenanigans on his profile — I insist that you all marathon it.) — Leah Stodart, Shopping Reporter
@kingofwierd
If @kingofwierd is just a joke, I won’t do the account the disservice of explaining what the punchline might be. If it’s not a joke, it’s mostly a guy hyping up how crazy this video is about to be, and then driving around exurban America pointing out things that aren’t weird at all, and acting like we all know the significance, and all will be revealed soon. Maybe he means aliens, or maybe he means the Illuminati. He never says. But come to think of it, the “normal” things he’s pointing to are actually 10 or 15 percent weird, like two cars being similar, or someone working on power lines. And from a certain perspective America is extremely weird when you drive around it. My point is that, joke or not, kingofwierd is right about everything. — Mike Pearl, Senior Editor
