Here, There and Everywhere
How has our FYP's looked in 2023 so far? Micro-trends, Alix Earle and many more.
As we’re now comfortably into 2023, with January dragging and February speeding by, it’s about time we dive into the trends of the year so far.
As always, it’s important to remember everyone’s FYP are dramatically different, with some trends never reaching our screens while being all over everyone else’s. I’m often reminded by this as I quote a (what I think to be) popular TikTok sound, and no one else recognises it. Therefore, the trends I love and discuss may be completely different to yours, and that’s why I created this newsletter I guess.
Let’s dive in….
Admittedly, when I sat down this morning to gather together some of my favourite trends from the last few weeks, for the first time I honestly struggled to think of some outstanding ones. No annoying sounds, overplayed songs or niche phrases came into my head, which is very strange for someone who watches Tiktoks every, single, day.
My FYP for most of Jan and Feb honestly didn’t have clear trends, and a lot of content seemed to follow trends from the end of 2022. I’m curious if this was just something I had picked up on, or had other TikTok fanatics noticed the same?
However, I did notice a few trends and some creators appearing on my FYP quite a bit, so I may only be scrapping the surface of the best bits of TikTok from the start of the year.
Microtrends
(A microtrend is a tendency in the direction of some phenomenon that is fairly pervasive within a given sphere of influence and lasts for a few years - TechTalks).
One of my personal favourite trends from the last few months, and probably the only trend that has stuck out to me is very simple to some other recent trends. It consists of the swipe feature, (a compilation of pictures which move to the beat of the chosen song or can be swiped by the user to their own accord) a catchy song, and the simple ‘spend a day with me’ narrative.
Here’s a great example:
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMYDpanSv/
I decided to give this trend a go myself. Here’s how mine went:
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMYDpbQAX/
Have you seen this trend on your FYP recently?
Alix Earle
You’ll either know this next new creator, or have no idea who she is.
The 22-year-old college student from New Jersey who is currently studying in Miami has been on my FYP non-stop. For awhile I thought I was actually following her, but I honestly don’t need to be.
She describes herself as a “hot mess” as she documents her day to day life at UMIAMI. From makeup tutorials, night out vlogs, shopping hauls, cleaning videos and story times, Alix does it all.
Her current 4.7 million followers on TikTok have all accumulated rather quickly, with her videos only going viral at the end of 2022.
Currently, majority of her videos are reaching 2 millions views at a minimum with most of them reaching 4 million. Her pinned video has reached an impressive 27.5 million.
Let’s have a look at some of her videos.
Her classic ‘get ready with me’
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You really can’t beat a classic ‘get ready with me’ TikTok (IMO).
In her videos, Alix comes across as bubbly, friendly and fun. But I think that she has been able to build such an audience because of her authenticity. She has spoken openly and candidly about her struggles with anxiety, acne issues and admits to never having her life together. Here’s a video of her showing an honest reflection of being a student sometimes;
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As stunning as Alix clearly is, it’s nice to see a young creator showing her personality and venerability on TikTok. For me she is a breath of fresh air on the app and I thoroughly enjoy the chaotic energy she radiates.
Heading in to March
A slightly shorter TikTok round up from me today, I hope my FYP wasn’t the only one lacking some fun trends recently. I’ll be taking this a sign to change up my TikTok habits and I’m already on the search for the next trend I will be attempting.