TikTok “trends” are unpredictable. There is no way to tell which videos will go viral and be recreated by the masses, but paying attention to those that do, and recreating them in your own “bookish” style, is a way to have fun on the app while also staying relevant. Here are some examples and tips on how you can recreate some iconic TikTok videos as your own! If you’re still not sure if TikTok is for you or you’re unfamiliar with the app, check out our other TikTok blogs: “Is TikTok the Next Bookstagram?” and “3 Tips for Authors to Make the Most Out of BookTok.”
This or That: This is an older trend that started out as people comparing “This or That” about personal preferences when searching for significant others. But the “BookTok” community took it over and made it their own! You can do the same, but tie it into your personal author brand by referring to books you’ve written, genres you prefer, or writing styles you like!
Pass the Phone: This trend was popular before Kourtney Kardashian and boyfriend Travis Barker took it upon themselves to create their own version of the video with their kids, but the entire internet blew up when they did decide to make their own. As an author, you may be wondering, “What does this have to do with me?” Well, you can also make the trend your own with personalized “bookish” responses! For example, here is Book Forward’s remake of the challenge.
Saved Sound: TikTok trends can also take the form of “sounds.” Whenever a certain song, monologue, or other sound is popular on TikTok, like this sound originally from The Notebook, you’ll notice that videos all over TikTok will start using the same sound in their videos, but they’ll adapt it slightly to change the meaning each time. As an author, you can take advantage of these sounds by saving them to your sound collection, and making your own video out of it! For this video for example, you could make it “bookish” by having the dramatic music kick in when a person mentions casually that they don’t like reading. That is just a fun and simple example of how to take advantage of a current TikTok trend!
If you do decide that you’d like to recreate some trending Tiktok videos in a way that makes sense for you, below are some tips on how to do so:
- Hashtag the video with the name of the challenge. For example, if you recreate the pass the phone challenge, don’t forget to put #passthephonechallenge in your caption. This will place it in the same area as all the other pass the phone videos, and give your video a more likely chance of being seen.
- Scroll through the For You page: Any videos that have a lot of views may be trending. You can click the hashtags in the caption of the video to watch other videos that were made with the same idea in mind. If the video is based off of the sound playing with the video, you can click the words scrolling by on the bottom of the video by this: 🎵 symbol, and hit “Add To Favorites”. Then when you go to create a new video at a later time, it’ll be stored in your favorite sounds folder, where you can access it! Or, you can click the sound and create a video immediately by pressing “Use this sound!”
I know TikTok can be intimidating, and creativity does not always strike when trying to recreate basic trends in bookish ways. But TikTok is a safe platform to experience and experiment with, because a lot of people come to the app to laugh or get inspired. The app is not as serious as a Facebook post or Instagram photo, so try to let loose and have fun with making these videos!
