Top Sounds 

Our curated picks of the top sounds on TikTok

1. Grey Trackie This sound has been paired with one of our highlighted effects to emphasize truly sickening thoughts.
2. Bombastic Side Eye 
   This video from Malala tells you everything you need to know about this sound.
3. Mr. Chu Gen Z is worryingly close to crowd-funding a k-drama about Shou Chew and this sound is proof.
4. Pedro Pedro Pedro 
   Yes, this sound is trending because of Pedro Pascal but that doesn’t mean it lacks other uses.
5. Everybody Told Me That I Sound Like CG5 Use this sound to show audiences how assumptions about you are absolutely correct.
6. Starboy Couples on #booktok have been using this sound to test out the ‘lean on the doorframe’ cliché from romance lit.

 Our Sound Highlight 

What You Just Said…

Mood: 

This sound originated in a critique of the Congressional hearing on TikTok and is now being used to call out book bans and more. We love the sound of dissatisfaction

 Effects Highlight 

Our curated picks of the top effects on TikTok

@isabella.m.powell

Can you guess the hidden meaning behind “Ring” 💍 #selenagomez #justinbieber #haileybieber #selenagomezwedding #selenagomezweddingdress #selenagomezdress #haileymeangirl #deuxmoi #selenaring #selenagomezring #haileybaldwin #tbwedding #weddingpics #imcallingit #imcallingitnow #itsajoke

♬ Ring – Selena Gomez

Yep, that’s an Encanto CapCut filter. Nature must be healing.

@getvocal

#CapCut and i wouldn’t have it any other way 🗣️🗣️

♬ original sound – Vocal Media

Pedro Pascal could be eating a sandwich and TikTok would obsess over it… Oh wait, that’s exactly what this filter is. Use this when you’re resigned to sitting back and simply trying to exist.

@sammilord

Its a no from me #wlw #lesbian #femlesbian #lgbtq #uklesbian #CapCut #fyp #wlwtiktok

♬ original sound – tt

This CapCut template pairs with the Grey Trackie sound from our sound highlights. My favorite usage has definitely been from queer folks rebuffing heteronormative assumptions.

@specsavers

let us live, man. #pingu #nootnoot #specsavers

♬ WhyPeopleUsingThisSound – LoneWolf ✔

Pingu meets Mozart’s Lacrimosa. Use this for the moment where you can clearly see your own doom (or else the doom of someone else)

 The Moment 

Issues That Are At The Forefront of Online Discourse – Fox News Really Hates TikTok (and remote work)

For a network that claims to hate TikTok, they sure do rely on TikTok for a lot of their reactionary segments.

On any given Tuesday afternoon, there’s someone within the Fox News offices north of W 47th street, scrolling TikTok so their hosts can get mad on air about women working remotely and drinking Diet Coke. I almost wonder what they’re paid, probably less than they should if they’re a woman— just based on Fox’s track record.

TikTok, and young female influencers, are great targets for Fox. Upon these 20-somethings they can project everything from culture wars and sinophobic fearmongering to generational hatred and anti-worker sentiment. If you’re living your life in a way that Strom Thurmond would disapprove of, you best believe they won’t like it.

In segments like the one that aired about TikTok influencer @hauskris, Fox gleefully puts these creators at risk, opening them up to harassment. It’s almost a goal. Maybe because they see that there’s a real worth in showing what working lives are really like. Maybe because they’re still caught up on the whole ‘women working’ thing. Either way, Fox News is committed to their performative hatred of TikTok, and using simplistic misogyny to make broad general statements about remote workers and the national security concerns surrounding the app.

 The Zeitgeist 

Hot topics from across the internet

• TikTok CEO Shou Chew testified before Congress and it was a hot mess! Congress isn’t beating the gerontocracy allegations, I fear.
  • S/O to #booktok for getting some shoutouts from the CEO. Maybe Shou is a Colleen Hoover stan?
• Some TikTok users have dubbed Shou Chew ‘TikTok Daddy’ taking a break from Pedro Pascal fancams to make edits of the TikTok CEO.
• Succession is back on HBO for its final season and I am LIVING.
• A Bravo cheating scandal had the internet abuzz like it was 2022.
• Ever wonder if those summer 2020 DEI funds got used? Looks like barely any was spent at Spotify.
• Paris is burning, not the seminal documentary, it is literally on fire as protestors respond to Macron’s pension reform, which raised the age of retirement from. 62 to 64.
  • Protests have also been underway in Kenya over the high cost of living and corruption claims.

 The Takeaway 

The community on TikTok has power.

Creators have become some of the loudest opponents of the proposed ban, partnering with lawmakers, protesting on the Capitol steps, and rallying their audiences to fill the inboxes of members of Congress.

This is the first time many influencers (and audience members!) have been politically activated. TikTok has been awash with instructional videos on how to call members of Congress, where to find emails, and how to advocate for keeping TikTok around.

There are 150 million Americans on TikTok so it should be no surprise that everyone from your favorite influencers to the CEO of the app has used the FYP to reach supporters. It doesn’t help, of course, that the Congressional hearing was filled with soundbites that were closer to satire than the resulting satire itself.

How wider public perception will be shaped by the response on TikTok has yet to be seen. But what’s apparent is that millions of views, likes, and comments have amassed under the banner of #keeptiktok. Anyone who doubted that TikTok could be used to call Americans to action has been proved wrong. This app, whatever you make of the ban, is being used to call thousands to action.

Made it to the end of this newsletter? Here are some treats, fantasy ‘magic’, this is for the girls, and Barbie stans a four-day work week.
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