Creating a TikTok a day keeps the anxiety at bay

I first started making TikToks when I started feeling a tickle in my throat two weeks ago.

At a friend's insistence, I downloaded the app back in January, but didn't start feeding the algorithm with my attention until I randomly tried to look up a TikTok I'd seen on Tumblr (yes, I'm still on Tumblr). I scrolled past the celebrities in favor of random teens making hilarious and intricate videos, especially ones about coronavirus — the sound effects, the editing, the visual and voice distortions, the nihilism! I wanted to try making my own. Just to see what the tools are like, I told myself.

I had a sore throat for a few days and was already working from home. I made the first TikTok on a whim about the Inevitable Man at Q&As who has "more of a comment than a question" and posted it to Instagram and Twitter. (My TikTok profile is private and I have zero desire to become TikTok famous.) Friends found it funny, so the next day I made one about the impending doom of COVID-19 coming to the States: the lack of accurate testing, the lack of social safety net, and the unforgiving work culture. Sometimes you just need some dark humor to get you through dark times.