On Tiktok, several influencers, convinced that the application was going to disappear for good, began to confess the lies behind their most popular videos.
“Since we're all going to die, there's one more secret I need to tell you about.” This short audio extract plays in a loop on the profiles of the biggest American influencers. Because since January 18, it's time for confessions on Tiktok.
Last April, Congress passed a law by a large majority opening the door to a possible ban on TikTok. More precisely, its parent company ByteDance, based in China, would be forced to sell the American subsidiary of the social network by January 19, otherwise the platform will be banned in the territory. However, on January 18, 24 hours before the deadline, no agreement was announced.
Well aware of the fatal outcome that awaited the short video application, which effectively disappeared temporarily on January 19, influencers therefore began to say goodbye to the platform. While some have chosen to reshare the videos that made them famous, others have decided to reveal their biggest secrets.
“Did you all lie?”
While some videos are humorous, others have jumped at the opportunity to reveal that their most popular videos had always been fake.
This is the case of content creator Lexi Hidalgo, followed by 2.7 million subscribers on Tiktok. The young woman made herself known thanks to publications where she tells anecdotes over coffee and her numerous “motivational” videos for doing sport.
“There's a secret I have to share with you. I never drank the coffee I made during my coffee chats. And I only did half the workouts that I posted,” she explains in a video that she has since deleted.
An admission that provoked the indignation of his community. “This is why I followed him and it was all a lie? Ugh,” one user wrote. “It's obviously not the end of the world, but it just shows that his whole online persona is fake. I don't see how anyone could trust him,” added another.
-For her part, Sara Uy admitted that one of her most watched videos, with 47 million views on Tiktok, was just a set-up. In the post, she can be seen getting ready for dinner and then realizing she was going to go out…without her skirt. However, all this was false. “I didn’t forget to put on my skirt after putting on my tights,” admits the influencer. Here again, the criticisms were not long in coming. “So, you all lied? You built this audience on the basis of a lie,” laments one Internet user.
A temporary ban
Journalist and influencer Josh Bru had a habit of picking random words from his followers' comments and finding a way to say them on air. “My bosses were totally on board with it,” he admitted. “They loved the stupid things I did on the radio.”
Controversial beauty influencer Meredith Duxbury, who went viral for applying ten loads of foundation to her face, admitted that yes, she wiped some of it off before making the final reveal.
Content creator Neha (1.7 million subscribers) who spent several years advising tutorials for curling your hair without using heat confessed, hair dryer in hand, to having never used one of these techniques.
The problem is that Tiktok wasn't banned for very long. Barely fourteen hours after the application was banned, the social network was indeed back, buoyed by the declarations of the future American president. In a message posted on his Truth Social platform on January 19, the Republican shared his intention to sign an executive order offering a 90-day reprieve for the social network to find a buyer. He also proposes that the social network be controlled at 50% by American shareholders.
Immediately, many videographers deleted their confessions. Others even went so far as to share a denial. “Coffee has always been for my mother. But now, I drink coffee. (…) I did the sports exercises. I was a child on a brand new application,” says Lexi Hidalgo.
But not enough to convince Internet users. “They act like they're dying,” one user notes. “Even if Tiktok disappears, they are on other platforms and now everyone knows they are liars.”
