Internet Folklore

“TikTok Dances”

JO

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States of America

October 2020

Informant data: JO was born on January 25, 2000, in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he grew up and currently resides. He is 20 years old and a junior at Dartmouth College studying Cognitive Science. JO is interested in comedy and film, and had a popular YouTube channel in high school that he continued to use through his first year of college. 

Contextual data: JO is an active TikTok user, amassing over 920,000 likes and 5 million views. He is familiar with Charli D’Amelio but no other TikTok dancers in particular. JO is familiar with the dance to “Laxed Siren Beat” and made a video on the platform criticizing how teenagers have sexualized this dance. While JO has not learned the dances to “Say So,” “Renegade,” “Savage,” or “Laxed Siren Beat,” he is familiar with all of these dances and they have all appeared on his “For You Page.” 

JO is more interested in visual comedy and enjoys watching short form versions of this on the app. JO believes that TikTok is pervasive in its impact on culture and noted how songs such as “Roxanne,” “WAP,” and “Laxed Siren Beat” have topped the music charts. In his opinion, historically internet dance challenges have not been as popular as these TikTok dances because the app provides a platform for them to thrive.

CM

Hanover, New Hampshire, United States of America

Dartmouth College

RUSS 13 Fall 2020