Kindness is a virtue that’s seldom celebrated in this world but there’s a trend currently taking over social media that aims to rectify that. Of course, social media is a platform itself rarely accustomed to kindness. More often than not, we hear stories of platform such as TikTok being used to promote harmful ideologies, violent content, dangerous trends and shameless narcissism. Then there was “If I Were a Fish.”
Last month this catchy clip of two young amateur musicians Corook and partner Olivia Barton, singing their original song, ‘If I Were A Fish’, went viral, amassing over 13m views.
It’s a pretty simple, silly song that asks the simple question “why is everyone online so mean?” and has inspired thousands of duets. Some have even gone so far as to dub it TikTok’s “mental health anthem”. But why has this slice of silliness resonated so profoundly with Gen-Z? And will it help pave the way for a kinder social media landscape? Are we ready for KindTok?
To gain a little more insight (as TikTok is far from my area of expertise), I spoke to Liz Stone, Co-Founder of creative content agency OK COOL. “The fact that this clip has gone viral goes to show that young users are genuinely looking for kind and inspiring content on TikTok,” Liz believes. “This song is all about promoting self-love and spreading positivity, which, after the eras of ‘mascara-gate’ and the ‘Bold Glamour’ filter it seemed like people really needed to hear.”
We actually saw this shift into lighter trends earlier this year when Australia’s animated series ‘Bluey’ went viral due to its childlike simplicity and pure feel-good factor. This clip, however, this clip specifically seems to be more of an extension of the ‘blissful cringe’ era. Maybe adding an element of discomfort makes it easier for these media saturated young folks to swallow?
Liz continues: “It also seems that Gen-Z have come across millennial indie music and, like they are known to do, have adapted it to the current cultural landscape, promoting body positivity and making a comment on the internet’s tendency for meanness.”
This eagerness to engage with this clip shows that when something genuinely resonates in a human way, it will always inspire creativity and community and maybe that’s where platforms like TikTok can truly shine?
“Overall, people’s love of this clip is a glowing commentary on how to be kind and spread kindness on the internet”, Liz feels, “and it just might be what people need to hear.”
Amen to that Liz. But I’m still not going to be downloading TikTok anytime soon!
