TikTok trends that are quick, fun, and relatable are always the best to come across. Currently, the “I’m so sorry” trend is taking over my For You page, and it has me howling. In case you don’t know, the “I’m so sorry” trend is a way for TikTok users to showcase their personalities and poke fun at childhood. The layout of the trend is a photo carousel on TikTok. It starts off with an image of the person from the past — say, from a yearbook photo or old childhood picture. As the images cycle through, different aspects of the photo change until the original, hilarious image is revealed. The entire trend is usually backed by Harry Styles’s “Coming Up Roses.”
Some are even doing the trend with images of their hilarious childhood Halloween costumes. A trend like this would typically be right up my alley — I always went all-out for Halloween when I was younger, with homemade costumes, makeup, and creative ways to avoid wearing a snowsuit. (As a Canadian, this was kind of necessary.) The trend overall is very clever, but for some (including me), there’s a slight issue.
In order to zhuzh up and conceal their original photos, users are using generative AI to edit their images. For those who aren’t interested in using generative AI, it can feel a bit off-putting, so you may be thinking you can’t participate in the trend at all. If you want to try out the “I’m so sorry” trend yourself without the use of AI, here are a few ways to execute it.
genuine photo editing
Instead of using generative AI, why not participate in the trend by editing your photo yourself? Editing images, especially poorly, always has a true authenticity attached to it. Regardless of your editing skills, you can definitely pull off a great video. I’d personally love to see this trend with comically bad image clipping and color adjusting.
Dream vs. reality
The entire purpose of this trend is showing the ideal version of a costume or childhood photo, followed by the reality. This can be executed using the same outline. You can make your first image be an inspo pic, costume advertisement, or an inspo board, followed by making the second picture your childhood photo. It’s a concept that doesn’t use AI, but still has the shock value that the others have.
Share multiple PHOTOS
Maybe it’s just me, but I think this trend could easily have a year-by-year spin. You could share childhood photos or costumes costumes by year, and still use the caption, “I’m so sorry.”