TikTok, Comedy, and the Evolution of Meme Tradition
In an otherwise extremely miserable year, TikTok became one of the unlikely heroes of 2020. Since launching in 2017, the platform has been attracting new users in droves thanks to its winning combination of snappy videos, catchy soundtracks, and viral challenges. But after the pandemic and a string of national bans around the world, even the most die-hard social media skeptics have viewed TikTok as a place to escape the doom and darkness of daily life – which resulted in the am most downloaded app of 2020.
Neil Boorman's job as head of TikTok's in-house creative team, Creative Lab Europe, is to delve into the weird and wonderful content that goes viral in the app. This usually ranges from a recent reincarnation of the traditional sea shanty to pretty much every video posted by beloved Grandpa Joe, and of course the Doggface Dreams phenomenon that broke the internet last year. “I mean, why is a man driving down the freeway drinking ocean spray and listening to an old Fleetwood Mac song? Don't ask, just enjoy it, ”says Boorman.
@ 420doggface208
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♬ Dreams (2004 Remaster) – Fleetwood Mac
Before joining TikTok, Boorman had built a reputation for being on the cutting edge of content, whether in his early career as a Guardian columnist and editor of the satirical fanzine Shoreditch Twat, or more recently as a content team leader at Mother and Wieden Kennedy, where he helped brands tell their stories through the flood of different channels on offer. TikTok's celebration of worldliness puts Boorman back where he's happiest in a broader backlash against the touchless influencer culture brought to the fore by the pandemic: at the heart of digital culture.