If you‘ve been on TikTok recently, you might have seen people posting videos with the only words or caption being, “this but in a liberal way.” These videos are often of things like going to the river or celebrating the Fourth of July with a ton of red, white, and blue decorations, and nearly all of them have a country song playing in the background. So… what’s the deal with this TikTok trend, and how can you participate? Well, you’ve come to the right place!
Essentially, creators are showing that they love to do things that are typically associated with being conservative. I know, it’s super reductive to give in to the stereotypes — like the idea that only conservatives like wearing cowboy boots, or going fishing, or shooting off fireworks (and that all conservatives like those things). But hey! That’s the internet for you.
While so much of the political discourse online is super heated these days, this trend is a much more lighthearted way of showing your followers what side of the aisle you stand on… even if your aesthetic or activity of choice don’t convey your stance right off the bat.
Most of the videos within this trend are pretty similar, all showing stereotypical conservative things, but they are pretty funny. One of my favorites is one of Tana Mongeau coming home after a vacation out of the country with the viral sound, “God Bless Our Troops, God Bless America” and the caption “in a liberal way IM HOME.” There are also some funny videos of people inner-tubing on a river, videos at country concerts, and even just a video of a pool table and a beer, all with the caption of “this in a liberal way.” And of course they all have country songs playing in the background, most commonly “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” by Luke Bryan.
In response to the trend, some conservatives have started up a counter-trend, labeling their videos “in a conservative way,” but showing things that do align with conservative stereotypes, and confirming that they are conservative-associted things. There are a lot fewer videos within this trend than the liberal one, but one example a creator made is a video of her singing a country song wearing cowboy boots and a hat, with the caption “in 100% conservative way.”
So, if you see any of your favorite creators posting a video with “this in a liberal way” or “in a conservative way” caption, now you’ll know what they mean by it!