FEW COMPANIES, maybe outside of Zoom, relished the peak pandemic days like Bytedance, the Chinese conglomerate behind TikTok. Prior to the pandemic, the redoubt of content-trash reported around half a billion monthly active users, but by September 2021, that number had doubled, and, for a moment, TikTok’s traffic surpassed Google’s. Everyone, it seemed, but especially those under thirty, had flocked to the app for its algorithm-curated buffet of viral dances, challenges, fast-fashion micro-trends, tutorials, and niche aesthetic communities. An army of fresh-faced vloggers and influence-peddlers arose to replace the haggard YouTube stars of yore. Many installed themselves in so-called TikTok mansions and set about establishing brand partnerships and producing the next viral trend. It wasn’t long before august publications like the New York Times and Harper’s descended to assess the first major disruption in the Western social media landscape in years.
