‘Oddly Satisfying’ Cow Pedicure Videos Are a Hit on TikTok

In Florida and out of my routines, I found myself on a TikTok binge last night. I saw something weirder than the pimple, blackhead, cyst videos—now, apparently people are gluing beans on their skin, calling them ticks, showing their arm infested with 100-200 things, to then pick them off one-by-one. If you click into the comments, you instantly rea

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It’s striking that TikTok, on the surface, prizes individuality but what truly sustains the platform is imitation and repetition and the all-too-human desire to be just like everyone else. Despite the many charming or strange or jaw-dropping videos on TikTok, far more of the videos are fairly mundane. They receive little attention, but the creators... See more

TikTok is creative and sprawling and often strange and anarchic, which mirrors the internet more broadly. There are few rules; the platform takes all comers. Chaos is inevitable. You can find absolutely anything; it’s incredible to witness how many different ways there are to be, how creative (or uncreative) people are, how we crave attention, hopi... See more