Tik Tok: The Digital Melting Pot and the Rise of 420doggface208
I know many of you are not on Tik Tok, or if you are, you see a radically different side than I do. This is a different kind of article that will outline one interesting user, and a viral trend he started.
This is 420doggface208
Getting to Know the Dogg Behind the Face
420doggface208 is a beautiful enigma. Rarely does he post a video using his own voice. He is frequently seen wearing Cholo style clothing. If a Karen saw him walking on the sidewalk towards her, she might cross to the other side. He has a tattoo on his clean shaven skull, which upon closer inspection seems tribal - 2 feathers. He always seems to be in industrial or suburban neighborhoods. Chainlink fences, railroad tracks, warehouses, busy intersections, aisles of pallet racks, black asphalt. It doesn’t seem like he has been given an easy life. But then he smiles. And he starts dancing. And Tik Tok loves it.
@420doggface208 Live,Love,Life##420souljahz ##ec ##dancinthug ##thugdancin ##h2o ##king ##staygold ##inyourface RENTAL DONATE A $1 so I can get one of my own PAYPAL in bio😂
♬ original sound - Chloe🦷
I’m showing you some of his most popular content. He posts a lot, but this is the stuff that has higher than average engagement. We are going through most of his posts chronologically. This next one is an early version of his most popular video to date, where he is skateboarding to Fleetwood Mac.
@420doggface208 Late night stroll/roll with my daughter an Lil sis n PaPa ##420souljahz ##ec ##inyourface ##KeepingItCute ##dreams ##fleetwoodmac ##king ##HiddenTalents ##high
♬ Dreams (2004 Remaster) - Fleetwood Mac
Are you noticing a trend about his most popular content?
It’s all fucking white people music. If half of these songs aren’t in the Spotify playlist “White People Music”, then the other half are surely in the playlist “Songs that Never Fail to make White People Beyond Turnt”. Which is not to say that 420doggface208 only uses “white people” music, because he certainly features a diversity of music that he dances to. They just receive a fraction of the engagement as his others.
Did you notice the number of likes on that rap video?
@420doggface208 Dc: @littledoorag had to do it ##420souljahz ##ec ##happyhippie ##dancinthug ##thugdancin ##king ##westside ##cloud9 ##high ##thuglife ##work ##mydad ##pothead ##hi
♬ Shake It - Metro Station
And back to the nice, safe sounding music. How would you interpret what is going on here? Is it simply the American user base liking and sharing songs they are nostalgic for? Is it the Tik Tok algorithm giving preferential treatment to certain types of content? Is it the amusement of juxtaposition? Of someone like 420doggface208 lip syncing to Lily Allen’s “smile” the way you’d imagine a group of teenage girls carpooling to Coachella would? I don’t have the answer, but I speculate it’s all of that and a little more.
420doggface208 is a self described skater, hippy, dancing thug, worker, pothead and king. He seems to present himself authentically, and in a sort of unfiltered way that you’d never experience from Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. This plays into his charm and the easy delight with which you can view his content. He could be your uncle. The kind of person with no singularly amazing talent to warrant much fame. He doesn’t skate like Tony Hawk, he smokes less weed than Snoop Dogg, he lip syncs worse than Miley Cyrus, and I think the Wiggles dance better. Yet there he is, over 1 million followers.
The Trend Drops
And then, something clicked. His other videos may have been popular, but this one became a trend. Who really knows why. Maybe his audience size reached a critical threshold. Maybe after all the terror of 2020 people were ready to consume something gentle and kind. Maybe the action of skateboarding while drinking was the perfect blend of challenging and fun to inspire others to show off. Maybe he got sponsored by Oceanspray. Whatever it was, this video is sitting at over 20 million views and 4 million likes. As you can tell, it isn’t too different from many of his other posts, but this is the one where most people meet 420doggface208 for the first time. Their first exposure.
You can see the trajectory he is on. He is creating a vibe. He is the unexpected comfort you find from a familiar tune in unknown lands. He is doing what Lil Nas X did with Old Town Road. He is bridging a divide between cultures, as a smiling emissary, showing us that despite our differences, we the same. And people are responding to it.
@canadiandavehere ##duet with @420doggface208 he seems like a really nice guy. This was fun. Bye! ##inverted ##onewheel
♬ Dreams (2004 Remaster) - Fleetwood Mac
@beerbongjohn IB @420doggface208
♬ Dreams (2004 Remaster) - Fleetwood Mac
@tater.totttt Morning vibe ##feelingood ##tacos ##worldpeace vibe credit: @420doggface208
♬ Dreams (2004 Remaster) - Fleetwood Mac
@angietrusty8 Morning vibe. So glad I didn’t fall & break a bone or spill my martini. Inspired by @420doggface208 ##morningvibes ##skateboarding ##vibewithus
♬ Dreams (2004 Remaster) - Fleetwood Mac
@officerkay ##duet with @420doggface208 ##lawenforcementedition ##copsarehumantoo
♬ Dreams (2004 Remaster) - Fleetwood Mac
@mattjcutshall When you meet another squad you vibe with... ✨ @callmechoko8 @ryanpinkston @imalexoliver ##dance ##foryou ##fyp
♬ Dreams (2004 Remaster) - Fleetwood Mac
It’s fascinating to see the early stages of digitally inspired globalization by the cross pollination of cultural trends. Is this how we merge into the collective consciousness of the hive mind? Will this be the undercurrent of humanity that we manage to imbue into our AI enhanced interbrain? Or is it simply a big data ploy to get the common folk to film their surroundings for the digital war machine? Either way, I hope you can find this vibe within yourself during these trying times. You deserve it.
