With everyone spending more time at home the last few months many people have taken to Tik-Tok to film and post short entertaining videos for others to enjoy. A number of Irish TikTokkers have achieved notoriety on the social platform., each with their own genre of content.
Fashion and styling
Molly Roberts had a strong presence on Instagram and YouTube before joining Tik-Tok.
“I posted my first Tik-Tok in February 2019, but it was just a funny video from a night out. It got like 10k views I think and I was very shocked.”
Since then, the 23-year-old has continued to grow her Tik-Tok presence, regularly posts styling videos and is currently taking part in the #30daysofoutfits challenge. She also produces dance videos.
The young social media alum has worked on campaigns such as RTÉ2fm’s #CreateDontContaminate campaign at the beginning of lockdown. She has also worked with fashion brand Boo Hoo by styling outfits and producing content for Instagram and Tik-Tok.
According to Molly, she has received many opportunities from Tik-Tok. “I was so lucky and proud to be a part of the #100Consent campaign with the DRCC and it was featured across news sites & RTÉ News too. I’ve been so fortunate to be contacted by clothing companies too as I do a lot of fashion & style on my Tik-Tok.”
Molly believes that people follow her for a variety of reasons depending on their interests. She says “A few of the sketches I did of TV shows got a lot of views and I made it to like 11-15k, and then one video I did at Halloween of me dressed like a Barbie went very viral – it got 8milliom views.”
Student life and comedy
Jason Cosgrove although perhaps more of a newcomer to social media than Mollerina, he has certainly made a splash on Tik-Tok this year. The 17-year-old from Galway started making Tik-Tok videos a year ago.
Jason classifies his work as relatable content and says “I often poke fun at student life, stereotypes and take a glance on the current affairs of young people.” As a second level student, Jason likes to appreciate the funny side of the everyday school life which his teenage demographic really enjoys.
Jason feels that people find him relatable because he isn’t afraid to share his own true opinions on issues within our education system. “It’s delightful to see all of the comments from people saying that they love what I do and that they’ve been following me for months.”
Like many other successful TikTokkers Jason has been approached by some brands to promote their products. “I have been offered several opportunities, but I only work for brandsthat I would use myself and that I have faith in. I definitely have noticed more brands getting in touch with me since I gained 70k+ followers.”
Satirical Irish mammy videos and trending content
Lauren Whelan is one of Ireland’s most successful young TikTokkers. The 18-year-old from Carlow joined Tik-Tok in December 2018 and lives in Ireland’s first content creation house, The Go House.
Lauren makes TikToks and YouTube content with other Go House members and recently a video she made with housemates and fellow creators Nia Gallagher and Shauna Davitt was shared on rapper KSI’s Instagram story.
“Most of my content now is Irish mammies, Irish teenagers and dancing, any kind of trends that are on the app because obviously anything that’s trending will 100% do well.”
Lauren is more Irish focused with her content and has worked for many companies on Irish based advertising content such as Lifestyle Sports, Vavavoom and Flipz. Lauren also recently signed with an agency and says that’s the biggest opportunity she’s had in terms of getting bigger companies to come work with her.
In the future, Lauren wants to keep growing her Tik-Tok following and is hopeful that she might become a presenter someday. “It’s hard to tell what the lifespan of the app will be. I have my platform already and I’m really interested in television and performing so I might as well focus on that and because of my agency I’ve gotten contacts in RTÉ.”
Contemporary Irish comedy and satire
Séamus Lehane from Cappagh in Limerick is newer to Tik-Tok but has gained huge traction since lockdown. He has 34.3K followers on the app at the moment.
Séamus joined Tik-Tok during lockdown and produces Irish comedy videos. He has always had ambitions to pursue comedy and saw Tik-Tok as an effective platform to share videos.
“I knew I would have a lot of free time to make videos and I thought I would do well on the app. The first video I made went viral so I’ve just continued on from that initial success.”
The Limerick TikTokker performs a lot of impressions in his videos which are normally quite satirical and also produces videos based on his own observations of Irish life. He describes himself as being a ‘complete novice’ when he first joined Tik-Tok.
“One of my first videos was an impression of Simon Harris. I think I had 8 followers when I posted it. Within 2 days the video had amassed over half a million views and over a thousand people had started following me. Simon Harris even retweeted it in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic.”
He is hopeful to make career out of comedy in the future and would like to see his follower count grow on Instagram and Tik-Tok. “I’m just exploring the whole video making process and navigating the world of social media. At the moment, Tik-Tok is riding the crest of a wave in terms of popularity.”
There are so many more great TikTokkers you can find that are from Ireland. The latest social media platform is an amazing way to share your talents in comedy, fashion, beauty and so much more!