A new viral trend is emerging on TikTok. Not only are celebrities not invited, they are also blocked.
Recent videos uploaded to TikTok, some of which have garnered millions of views each, have given social media users the chance to watch videos like Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian on platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Spotify. It encourages people to block celebrities.
Why is it called “Celebrity Block Party”?
TikTok users say they are disillusioned with celebrities over the Israel-Hamas war, complaining that celebrities are not using their platforms to speak out against violence in the Middle East. ing. The flashpoint for their anger also involves the recent Met Gala in New York City.
Users say calls to block influencers are aimed at hitting where it hurts most: advertising revenue.
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Met Gala, violence in Gaza sparks outrage online
On Wednesday, a TikToker named “blockout2024” posted a 15-second video that begins with footage from the Met Gala and news coverage of the Gaza war. He urged viewers to stop following celebrities and start blocking them.
“If we hate them, they make money. If we praise them, they make money. But if we block their social media accounts and change their names in full.” If they forget, they lose everything,” he said in a later video.
His message struck a nerve. The post went viral in his two days, earning him over 2 million views and over 334,000 likes on TikTok.
Other users have been posting similar messages, and the hashtag “Blockout2024” had been posted more than 11,700 times on TikTok by Friday, May 10th. Movie and music stars may not yet be ubiquitous, but algorithms may be.
A Thursday video by user “GoldaKolajuda” has been viewed more than 1 million times and said she noticed an increase in ads after blocking pop stars Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian.
“I've never received an ad about them before,” she said on TikTok.
What happened at the Met Gala that made TikTok users so angry?
As humanitarian crises deepen in both the Middle East and Ukraine, social media was flooded with scathing comments about the recent Met Gala. At $75,000 per ticket, the event is one of fashion's biggest nights and serves as an annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York City.
Some critics have called this year's fashion exhibitions “tone-deaf” given the global situation, and many Twitter users have compared the Met Gala spectacle to the “Hunger Games” (where the powerful few can dress extravagantly). It is likened to Suzanne Collins's dystopian novel. The world around them is suffering and starving.
TikTok personality asks followers to 'eat cake' in video at Met Gala
One influencer in particular managed to draw the ire of the crowd.
TikTok personality HaleyyBaylee, who goes by “HaleyyBaylee,” posted several videos of herself attending the Met Gala wearing an elaborate floral dress. In her video, which has since been deleted from her account, Khalil lip-syncs the phrase “Let them eat cake” to a sound clip from the 2006 film “Marie Antoinette.”
Those enraged by Khalil's comments seemed ready to launch a digital guillotine.
Viewers online criticized Khalil's voice choices as “outrageous” and “insulting”, and there were calls for her to be blocked on social media. A few days later, Khalil uploaded a nearly nine-minute video to TikTok in which he profusely apologized.
“I am very sorry that I chose a sound that you may find inherently malicious,” Khalil said on TikTok, adding that he would never have used the audio if he had considered its implications. .
Several followers who saw Khalil's apology video responded curtly, saying, “We're watching from District 12,” reminiscent of “The Hunger Games.”
Calls to stop Khalil are echoed among a wide range of celebrities, including Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, Tom Brady, Drake, Justin Bieber and Oprah Winfrey. It's getting a lot of attention.
What impact is the “celebrity block party” trend having?
It remains unclear how much influence the “celebrity block party” trend will have on shaking up social media influencers.
Taylor Swift lost 100,000 followers on TikTok on Thursday, the day after the #Blockout2024 hashtag started circulating, according to media analysis site Social Blade. Overnight, her follower count decreased slightly from 33.5 million to 33.4 million.
But overall, it's just a drop in the bucket.
According to Social Blade, from April 27 to May 10, Swift gained an average of 270,000 TikTok followers per day. On X (formerly Twitter), Swift currently holds the title of 8th most popular account with 95.3 million followers. Her losses there from Wednesday to Friday barely cost her 6,000 total unfollows.
Did Kim Kardashian lose followers on TikTok?
A viral theory claiming Kim Kardashian has lost 3 million followers appears to be unsubstantiated, as her TikTok follower count has remained steady at 9.7 million over the past week, according to Social Blade. Ta. However, the exact profit and loss does not seem to be displayed on the analysis website.
Kardashian's follower count on TokCount.com appears to be slightly lower at 9.6 million as of Friday.
It's not yet clear how badly celebrities will be burned in the event of a social media firestorm, but the spark is certainly there.
John Tufts covers trending news for the Indianapolis Star. Send him news tips to JTufts@Gannett.com. Follow him on X @JTuftsReports.
