Tik Tok Awards: ‘Roll your eyes if you want, I’m a star’ says nominee

For those over 30 and not chronically online, the likes of Asher Glean, Nicholas Flannery and Kyra-Mae Turner are probably completely unknown.

But, for those who spend more time than they care to admit scrolling through TikTok, this name is likely on their page for you.

They are just some of the content creators who have been shortlisted for the first UK and Ireland TikTok Awards.

Across 12 categories, 72 creators, with a combined following of more than 101 million, have been nominated and the winners will be announced at a ceremony in London on Tuesday evening.

But, why hold an awards ceremony for people who make videos for social media platforms?

“There’s a lot that goes into creating a mutant,” travel creators Jed Beatty and Ryan Losasso told the BBC. “A 30-second video can take days, even weeks, to develop.”

“Awards like this can inspire a whole new wave of people to pick up the phone and create content,” explains the duo.

Ali Meghani, one of the fashion and beauty candidates, agrees, saying: “From the outside, creating content may seem easy, but it involves a lot of hard work, time and thought.”

Meghani, who also has a full-time job and creates content in her spare time, says the awards “highlight our dedication and give us the recognition we deserve”.

She added that her content “helps break down stereotypes” and that her videos are more than just fashion-inspired, but instead “inspire people to truly be themselves”.

The power of TikTok should not be underestimated – with 175 million monthly active TikTok users in Europe, videos on the app have contributed to this year’s most viral trends.

Such tendencies As very slow, very intelligent It’s even overtaken the Internet as Dictionary.com named demure its word of the year.

Instead, Oxford University was awarded the word of the year.meaning over-consumption of low-quality content on social media, which translates to spending a lot of time mindlessly scrolling through apps like TikTok.

Andrew Przybylski, a psychologist and professor at the University of Oxford, says the word “describes our dissatisfaction with the online world and is a word we use to shut down our anxieties around social media. can”.

One of the nominees for Creator of the Year, Ayamé Ponder, says she “gets both sides of the argument” but thinks influencers “get a bad rep”.

“They can roll their eyes all they want – I’m a star,” she tells the BBC.

Her 3.8 million followers may know her best for her comedic sketches, but now she’s using her platform to “give back.”

“I started to change my purpose when I started seeing the injustices happening around the world,” she says.

TikTok UK, Ireland and Nordics head of operations Melissa McFarlane says the awards celebrate “everyone from science experts highlighting STEM subjects, to literature lovers sharing their favorite book recommendations”. .

“When you take a step back and think about the impact TikTok communities are having on reading, the way we cook, even the way we learn, it’s really important and deserves to be recognized. ; especially when most creators are just creative people with a passion,” she adds. “Their contributions go beyond mere ‘impact’.”

The UK awards are one of 20 awards held globally this year and each award celebrates people in different categories including food, music, entertainment, beauty and fitness.

According to Meghani, while there are nominees who routinely produce content with me or in slice-of-life, there are also those who have carved out a niche that shows how they “changed the industry.” have been”, according to Meghani.

Some nominees with possibly the best content include:

• yorkshire.fossils – a page with 72 million likes that says what it does on tin and shows videos of fossils
• thep00lguy – With 15 million followers, the creator makes satisfying ASMR videos while cleaning his swimming pools.
• Dr. Amy Boyington – Historian runs a page dedicated to offering insight into historical events.