TikTok is set to be banned tomorrow — and a new last-minute trend allowing influencers to “confess” their unspoken secrets has taken the app by storm.
Before the app “goes dark” on Sunday, January 19, many of the platform’s content creators are leaving their fans baffled as they expose that many aspects of their most viewed videos were, indeed, just a ruse.
Highlights
- Many TikTok influencers confess to faking multiple parts of their content as a last-minute trend.
- Many netizens thought these confessions were a sign of how much trust they deserved.
- Some creators instead posted emotional farewells.
Lexi Hidalgo, who had 2.7 million followers, was a social media star amongst this group.
Many TikToker influencers are coming forward with confessions on what parts of their content were "fake"
Image credits: alixearle
Known primarily for her “coffee chats” and workout videos, the 24-year-old let her viewers in on a not-so-little secret, as reported first by Daily Mail.
“There’s one more secret I feel I have to share with you,” she confessed. “I never once drank the coffee I made in my coffee talks. And only did like half the workouts I posted.”
The little admission had a few commenters lifting their jaw off the floor.
“I hope that post helps people realize how she actually is!” exclaimed one user. “She’s not a good human I fear.”
Another penned, “This one took me out. That’s the reason (plus the workout videos) that I followed her and both were lies??? Instant ick.”
An additional netizen questioned how many more secrets she had under her belt, writing, “Just think about all the worse lies she would never admit to if she thinks these things that are the core of her brand is no big deal.
“Obviously not the end of the world but just shows her entire online persona is fake. Not sure how anyone could ever trust her.”
An unexpected amount of backlash followed some of these videos
Image credits: meredithduxbury
The noise inevitably reached Lexi as she clarified in a later video, “The coffee was always for my mom, I drink the coffee now — just not when it was iced and super sweet in 2020.”
She added, “I did the workouts. Just not when I posted them. I was a kid on a brand new app. I didn’t know better yet.”
Meredith Duxbury, a beauty influencer who gained lots of attention for flooding her face with a ridiculous amount of foundation in every makeup video, admitted to her strategic rage-bait.
“I did wipe some of those 10 pumps off…” she wrote in her video before cheekily adding, “Or did I?”
One user commented, “I fear [this] trend isn’t actually helping these influencers become ‘relatable’ it’s just confirming for us who we can trust and who we can’t.”
“Imagine TikTok doesn’t get [banned] and now no one trusts you 😭” joked another, to which Meredith confirmed it was all merely a joke.
Others flocked to Reddit to address the entire trend as a whole, seeing it as a chance for content creators to expose how they are a “bunch of liars.”
It became seen as a breach of trust for some creators
Image credits: sellingsaraa
“So, you all lied? You built this following based on a lie?” someone wrote. “I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but it’s just so odd.”
“Cannot wait until the documentary on the lies of influencers come out in a few years,” another scoffed while a third agreed, “They are just marketers with faces to them.”
Other big names such as Charli D’Amelio and Serena Kerrigan participated, as well, involving topics that were a lot less controversial.
While the majority of influencers took this trend as a way to spill secrets they deemed as light-hearted, a few others posted emotional goodbyes and farewells to the followers who changed their lives for the better.
Image credits: charlidamelio
“I’m just so sad, just thinking like all of the memories just going away,” she said. “I love you guys so much and I just feel like I need to just check in with you guys right now.”
She added, “I’m freaking out because I’m like where am I gonna scroll, it’s so much fun talking to everyone on here.
Others shared their meltdowns
Image credits: serenakerrigan
“Guys this is not okay, someone’s going to have to check me into a mental hospital. What the heck is going on? Can we all just like hang out?”
Artist Joey Kidney, who has more than 5 million followers amassed, posted his own emotional tribute.
“Good things come to an end all the time — but this one feels different,” he started as a compilation of his past videos began to play. “This wasn’t just a place, it was a feeling. A corner of the world where loneliness didn’t feel so lonely.
Image credits: joeykidney
“I could be myself here, without apologies, without masks, and somehow, strangers became friends — through videos on a screen, through stories we shared without ever meeting.”
He concluded, “Goodbye doesn’t erase what it was. It only means I have to let go. Good things come to an end all the time, but this one? This one will stay with me.”
Many netizens claimed it wasn't something to be surprised about — content creators fake scenarios all the time for views
