The game of Tik Tok Fame

Gloria Simon (’20) is not an average high school student, known to most. Behind the scenes of school Simon has become a well recognized creator on the popular app “Tiktok” within a short span of time. She holds nearly 100,000 followers along with hundreds of thousands of views to her name. Comedy sketches, dances, art and conspiracy theories are only a few of the talents that have earned her the thousands of fans and fame she currently has. Tik Tok is a social media platform that combines Musicl.ly and Vine. She first started her account in April 2019 because she was in a bad mental place at the time and needed a distraction from all the chaos she was experiencing.  Within a week of posting her first video--a transformation into an “e-girl” (dressing in a gothic style)--she received 100 thousand views and later gained 10 thousand followers within the first month. The immediate growth sparked her desire to continue to develop the account. However, after a couple months, her opinion changed on the matter and she began to despise Tik Tok due to the pressure she felt to conform to her online image. Along with this, the amount of people spreading hate towards her account’s growth was overwhelming. Simon decided against further publicizing her account, refraining from sharing it with her friends or peers. When her content began to show up more often and being reposted on other platforms of social media, many old friends and new people began reaching out to her to mention how cool it was for her to have all the “clout” that she was gaining. The rush of kindness that she quickly began to receive was unexpected and something she was not used to. While sudden fame had it perks, Simon became suspicious of people’s intentions.  “Being ‘famous’ let me make new friends but, deep down, I’m constantly questioning everyone that talks to me out of nowhere because I can’t tell if they like me as a person or as an account,” Simon said. Simon has realized from this experience that internet fame is not always what it seems. She has learned that putting any content out on the internet will inevitably bring judgement and the pressure to please others’ wants, compared to what she wants to present. On the brighter side, Simon enjoys being recognized on the internet and the excitement and love her fans have towards her. The thought of having that much recognition left her in awe, and she never imagined having a community of fans or the ability to reach out to others.She hopes that the content she puts out will help someone who is going through a rough patch like she was, and that they know they will be able to get through it too. Although she’s enjoyed moments of her fame, she does not plan on continuing her account after this school year.