#10 Wild Card

 Most Popular TikTokers of 2021

    For my wild card assignment blog, I wanted to feature something that has been very popular last and this year the most. TikTok has been the hottest craze throughout the whole pandemic. Everyone from young children to older adults have been raving about TikTok. TikTok has been open to all ages to enjoy 15-60 seconds videos. The videos range from comedy, dancing and singing, skits, and much more. TikTok is the platform where just about anyone can go viral within just one video. A lot of average ordinary people have found newfound fame within TikTok. In this wild card blog, I will be discussing 8 individuals that have developed great success from TikTok. First on this list Michael Le. Michael Le was just an inspiring dancer posting dancing videos on Instagram and uploading daily videos on YouTube. One day, start to upload dancing videos to TikTok.  Known by his username justmaiko on the platform, Michael has become a TikTok sensation for his dancing videos that frequently feature his little brother, Jonathan "Mini Mike" (Screen Rant). Michael Le has obtained 46.0 million and counting on TikTok. He partly owes his success to little mini look-like brother who is seen in almost every video and showcases his adorable and cute personality and smooth dance moves. Michael Le also keeps himself grounded and humble by featuring his family in tiktoks and has created a family channel called Shluv Family. 

    Next on the list is a tiktoker that has amassed 50 million followers. The tiktoker is Dixie  D’Amelio. The older sister of widely popular Charlie D"Amelio. Dixie's content mostly deals with videos involving her sister and other famous TikToker Noah Beck. Viewers really cannot pinpoint how Dixie's gained success so quickly. Critics say it is strongly due to being a sister of an already famous tiktoker. People say she leeches off her sister's fame and tries to create a name for herself by now making music. Either way Dixie has landed millions of followers to keep her noticed into the entertainment industry. Another tiktoker that is not new to viral success and found fame in the past with social media platform  musical.ly is Loren Gray. 

    Loren Gray was very popular on musical.ly back in 2015 and had millions of followers from lip-syncing videos. As the musical.ly was laid to rest and later merged into TikTok, it wasn't hard for Gray to reclaim her throne as the sixth-most followed person on the app. Aside from making tiktokers, also has a successful career as a  musical artist and uploads regularly to YouTube channels. If her TikTok career doesn't panned out, Gray will have lots to fall back to keep making bank for a while. 

    A tiktoker that knows how to land the beats is Spencer Polanco Knight. Spencer X is a beatboxer, which makes him automatically annoying to spend time with. New to TikTok, Knight uses his beatboxing skills that lands him 52 million followers as he is the 5th most followed creator. 

    Zach King rounds the list as 4th most popular TikTok creator with 57 million followers. The reason so many people devoted to Zach King videos are crazy illusions and mind-blowing magic tricks. Now the last 3 individuals make up the list as most influential and widely popular people on TikTok. 

    Bella Poarch is 24 year old TikTok creator who was born in  Philippines that rose to stardom within less than eight months and gained 40 million followers. Her most viral video that propelled her fame is where zoomed-in video of her lip-syncing and rhythmically bouncing to “M to the B” by Millie B. Bella Poarch is known in videos acting childlike and cutesy lip-syncing to viral songs. As of late, she has surpassed 60 million followers. 

    The last 2 spots pretty much anyone that has TikTok have heard of these creators. Addison Rae is 20-year-old TikTok star comes right behind Charli as the second-most followed user on the app. Born in Louisiana, Addison was a competitive dancer and was pursuing a degree in sports broadcasting at Louisiana State University before dropping out and moving to Los Angeles to pursue her social media career. Addison is partnered with American Eagle as an ambassador and also launched her own cosmetics line, Item Beauty. She will also begin her acting career, starring in a remake of the 1999 teen movie She's All That (Screen Rant). 

    The number 1 spot belongs to the youngest person on this list with more than 110 million followers. 16 year old Charli D'Amelio was just an average competitive dancer post dancing videos like everyone else. Until she danced the famous "Renegade" dance which was created by Jalaiah Harmon where her TikTok career skyrocketed. Dubbed as the "queen" of TikTok, Charli continues to post viral trend dances. As you can see, these 8 individuals have accumulated the most followers on TikTok to become well-known all across the globe. There are lots of other famous creators on TikTok, but these are the ones that are most followed. Many are regarded as popular and some as most followed. At the end of the day, these creators have taken the world by storm. 

#9 Classmate Blog Critique

  

   Classmate blog critiques always allow me and my classmates to evaluate our peers' projects and hard work. These critiques give a sense of gratitude and appreciation for one's blog. This semester I have come across some amazing blogs and I'm grateful to share a blogging class with my fellow peers that have showcased good quality projects this semester. Now if I could I would analyze everyone's blog and tell them how great of a job they did this semester but with word count that would be nearly impossible. This semester I have found great things within everyone's blogs at one time of point on different topics. Even so, the people I will be critiquing today have enjoyed more than one topic on their blog that has showcased stellar blogging skills. I will be discussing 2 classmates that have impressed me this semester. Their blogs provided amazing graphic designs and creative writing that stuck out to me. 

    The first person whose blog caught my eye this semester was Legend Harris. Upon visiting Legend's blog, you really can tell her likes and interests from her blogs. She covers the topics that relate most to her. The way her blog is set up is always a joy to visit because when you click on each project, it opens as a magazine column. I can appreciate Legend's writing the most from her very first sentence. In each project, her first sentence to start off each project was well-written. It always comes from a place of sophistication when she writes and topics she chooses seem like she knows a lot about. Her blog really radiates her because if you know her personally or have talked to her, you could see the correlation between her and the blog. My favorite project from Legend is her movie review. Her movie review on a foreign films gave intensive insight on how film are showcased outside the United States. She explains how America views foreign films as taboo and not talk about enough. She gives elements of how America regards foreign films are weird and uninterested they are about foreign films. She states partly due to not understanding the language we find foreign films difficult to discuss. I greatly admire her review of international films because I enjoy international films as well. Her review was precise and she executed the topic briefly but in a professional way. Overall, Legend's blog was one of many blogs that piqued my interest this semester. Check her blog down below! 

Legend's Blog

    The next person blog I enjoyed this semester was Cory Evans. When I first stumbled upon Cory's blog, it's very cool to see his design background. The fiery fire featured with his blog showcases explosive look at his topics and his writing. Cory writing skills have always been the highlight of how his blogs pops. Cory writing skills this semester have been phenomenal and makes me feel like I have been reading a local newspaper column. With his writing skills, he has the poise to becoming a really good journalist one day. Cory's blog is always categorized and organized in a brilliant way. Every time I visit Cory's blog I am never disappointed with his topic choice and value his creativity. To see Cory's blog in action scroll down below! 

Cory's Blog

#8 International Media

    Lupin

    International media is not much different from media in the United States. International media pertains to all types of media in other countries. The media covered in other countries might intertwine with the media in the United States. International media is a concept that grew from many theoretical approaches and technological advances. It is communication from varied media that shape our global context through various political, economic, social, and cultural factors (International Media Wiki). When it comes to media, there many forms of media that it pertains to. Modern media comes in many different formats, including print media (books, magazines, newspapers), television, movies, video games, music, cell phones, various kinds of software, and the Internet. Each type of media involves both content, and also a device or object through which that content is delivered (Types of Media.Net). Recently international media has hugely involved entertainment such as movies and TV shows. The way international media has been including movies and TV shows is through Netflix. 

    Netflix including last year and present day have stepped up and created international original content and movies. Netflix has a massive influx of international TV shows that have created worldwide buzz. Whether it is recent Kdramas such as Crash Landing on You and It's Okay To Be Okay or Spanish-speaking shows also like Elite, Money Heist, and Who Killed Sara? These shows have paved the way for success in respective countries. Now I would like to discuss a Netflix French original series Lupin. Lupin is a French mystery thriller streaming television series created by George Kay and François Uzan that premiered on Netflix on 8 January 2021. The show stars Omar Sy in the role of Assane Diop, a man who is inspired by the adventures of master thief Arsène Lupin, a character created by Maurice Leblanc in the early 1900s. The story follows professional thief Assane Diop, the only son of an immigrant from Senegal who had come to France to seek a better life for his child. Assane's father is framed for the theft of an expensive diamond necklace by his employer, the wealthy and powerful Hubert Pellegrini, and hangs himself in his prison cell out of shame, leaving the teenage Assane an orphan. Twenty-five years later, inspired by a book about gentleman thief Arsène Lupin his father had given him on his birthday, Assane sets out to get revenge on the Pellegrini family, using his charisma and mastery of thievery, subterfuge, and disguise to expose Hubert's crimes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupin_(French_TV_series). 

    I think what the audiences in United States and other countries found most fascinating about this show is how they showcased Paris. In the show, you get to see the Eiffel Tower and various other landmarks and special attractions depicted. Viewers find this show the most appealing because of its portrayal of adventure and cat-and-mouse game showcased within the cast trying to track down the culprit. Fans of the show wait patiently and enthusiastically for its return for season 2 which is set to premiere later this summer. Overall, in recent years, you have seen Netflix gain access to international shows that spark worldwide buzz and attention, with the recent addition of Lupin, Netflix doesn't plan to slow down anytime soon with the influx of international shows.

#7 Social Media

How Dating Apps Are Benefiting Off the Pandemic

    Social media has played a huge part in getting through the pandemic for the last year or so. From the rise of TikTok and new features added to existing social media apps, the influx of social media does not plan to slow down soon since recent events. Various apps such as Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, and new apps like Clubhouse and Houseparty have kept people entertained through this pandemic. Even with half the world opening back up completely and various vaccines have rolled out, people still look for social media as a safe space. The apps that also include dating. Now dating apps have really utilized the pandemic to create buzz. 

    

    The two most popular dating apps Tinder and Bumble have shown incredible success during the pandemic. People from all over the world have used these apps once or twice through the pandemic. To understand the rise of dating apps like Tinder and Bumble, you must know how they work. Tinder Tinder is an American geosocial networking and online dating application that allows users to anonymously swipe to like or dislike other profiles based on their photos, a small bio, and common interests. Once two users have "matched", they can exchange messages. Tinder initial release was in 2012 but has increased with popularity in recent years starting from 2015. Using Facebook, Tinder is able to build a user profile with photos that have already been uploaded. Basic information is gathered and the users' social graph is analyzed. Candidates who are most likely to be compatible based on geographical location, a number of mutual friends and common interests are streamed into a list of matches. Based on the results of potential candidates, the app allows the user to anonymously like another user by swiping right or pass by swiping left on them. If two users like each other it then results in a "match" and they are able to chat within the app. Chatting on Tinder is only available between two users that have swiped right on one another's photos. The selections a user makes are not known to other users unless two individuals swipe right on each other's profiles (Tinder Wiki). The success of Tinder largely came from young adults looking for love or generally to have someone to communicate with during this difficult time. Bumble is exactly the same way. 

    Bumble founded in 2014 allows users In matches between a man and a woman, the woman must initiate the conversation of their matches or the matches disappear within 24 hours. BFF mode uses the same swipe right or left platform as the app's dating mode and requires that a conversation is started within 24 hours of matching with a potential friend. Conversations started with potential friends are color-coded as green as opposed to yellow for dates. As the feature was rolled out, Bumble also announced that it would eventually release a dual-profile feature allowing users to curate a profile for dating or friendship (Bumble Wiki).Critics and users see Bumble as feminist Tinder.  It is due to being specifically dedicated to women users because it allows them to be in control. 

    Now different levels of popularity vary greatly between two dating apps. Typically more older adults used Bumble and it was treated more sophisticated than Tinder because the limit of features was. Tinder most active users range from 18-22 targeting mostly college students. Since these dating apps feature users of young demographic, the users utilize these apps through connecting with people during the pandemic when they could not have human interactions.  Tinder and Bumble was there to engage the younger demographic when in person connections cannot be obtained. Dating apps benefiting off the pandemic can have positive and negative effects as well. The upside is people were introduced to people all over the world to get to know someone on a personal level and build a strong connection through the pandemic and meet various people for overall experience. The takeaway from that is people could find life-long and lasting relationships and friendships. The downside is that it opens a world to the dangers of catfishing and deceit. Whereas more people were at risk of meeting someone that was not who they said they were in the long run. It also could give deceit people an opportunity to wreak havoc on innocent people for money or among other things. Also could lead to major problems resulting in kidnapping or death. Overall, these dating apps have benefited well off the pandemic even it though has positive and negative effects.