Ryan: I remember getting my first PR package and [being] like, I was on Medicaid a couple months ago.
Matt: When I left The Tonight Show I thought the next job was going to be a writing job. With the writer’s strike, Hollywood kind of imploded for a little bit, and I was like, “I’m so lucky I built up this thing.”
Clara: I think my highlight was [attending] the Charlixcx boiler room.
What trend or video defines TikTok for you?
Serena: My favorite video on TikTok was of someone who had an analog clock and was using some sort of metal stick to dig out the glass, and was saying, “You really don’t need glass in a clock.”
Clara: I love cursed videos and I love that trend right now where it’s a picture of an insane spread of alcohol and the caption is “He will be hearing from me tonight.”
Fia: I loved how people became genuinely themselves with TikTok and I think that was a trend in a sense. And on top of being super genuine, you realize you were not as alone and that everyone has the same experiences.
What do you think would come after TikTok?
Serena: I think it would be funny if we all started making YouTube Shorts because it’s so absurd—just filling things with Orbeez and squishing slime.
Clara: There’s been some serious success stories in the short form space and I feel like long form could be the next one.
Fia: I’m like, where the hell am I gonna find my information? I learned the craziest, most random pieces of advice and DIY and insights on travel and all these different things. I hope that somebody can emulate the app and maybe make something very similar.
Kristijan: People are gonna be on YouTube way more for sure. Instagram I think will get [resources] poured into it, marketing-wise. TikTok was an app where you were either more long form cinematic, or you were really quick. I feel like Instagram people are more curated, so maybe we’ll lose those very casual things, or maybe Instagram will turn into a very casual app.
Are Reels lame?
Serena: Reels are so lame, but I love it. I had to get a lock box from Amazon.com for my phone because I got too invested in a throuples breakup that was happening on Instagram Reels and I was like, “I can’t live like this anymore.”
Do you think TikTok as a whole was a net positive or negative for culture?
Serena: Probably negative. It’s brought a lot of people a lot of joy and brought them to things that they wouldn’t otherwise know about. But I also see the way young people interact in day-to-day life and how TikTok has shaped their personalities and it does concern me.
Fia: Net positive, I think. I just remember the days of being in the pandemic and not feeling as alone. It showed a lot of humanity and what was going on and what we were all trying to digest at the time. I look at it as a positive. It changed my life.
