By Rachel Tair
TikTok, the social media platform that has taken the nation by storm, has also taken over the lives of numerous students at South. Whether you have simply heard of it, use it casually, or make original content daily, TikTok has most likely affected your life or the life of someone you know. Senior Kyle Choi (username “kaleandbokchoi”) has recently received his first glimpse at fame with 76,300 followers and 2.4 million total likes.
It all began with Choi posting occasional content of himself and his friends dancing popular routines, lip syncing songs, and throwing eggs at ceilings. What started as a simple pastime turned into one of Choi’s favorite hobbies. When Choi first started, he usually only received a mere hundred views and ten likes on his videos; however, this did not discourage him from posting. Choi’s rise to fame started with his first K-Pop video, where he imitated famous BTS singer Suga. He taught viewers how to mimic Suga’s iconic voice with four easy steps: “1. Talk like you have no teeth. 2. Act like you have a tablet in your mouth. 3. Accentuate sounds at the end. 4. But slur sounds in the beginning.” As of April 27, 2020, this video has 209.5 thousand likes, 9150 shares, and 810,300 views. Choi saw the amazing response and ran with it. He turned it into a series and named it “doing this for every member of BTS until I get famous.” And he did just that. Soon, he was receiving hundreds of direct messages and comments from teenagers all over the world for more content and tutorials. “It all happened so quickly; I never expected this to happen. I posted the video for fun and went to bed. The next morning, I woke up and couldn’t believe the amount of views I got,” said Choi.
Choi’s account is a mix of K-pop oriented videos and comedic content. His most popular video—with 8.0 million views, 1.5 million likes, and 89.3 thousand shares—is him asking the viewers to name a food that starts with “D.” Choi is constantly posting new and interesting content. “I don’t really plan my videos anymore; sometimes, I’ll be doing something random and just think it would be a funny TikTok,” said Choi.
In fact, Choi is not the only student at South who has received increasing attention on TikTok. Especially during this quarantine, many students use TikTok as their source of comedy and happiness during this tough time. Like most high school students across the country, many other South students are also creating content in hopes of gaining fame. Senior Carly Burstein escapes her boredom by scrolling on TikTok’s “for you page.” Burstein said, “I always see familiar faces on the page; I have seen students from every grade post new dances and funny content.”
The Southerner wishes Choi the best in his future endeavors on TikTok. “See you on the for you page,” added Choi.
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