TikTok challenge: Homogenization or circumscribed creativity? A case of Ciin and Quynhthie

From Instagram's "aesthetically similar" visual posts (Leaver et al. 2020) to TikTok's hashtag challenge, there seemed to be little change regarding how people engage in available, designated digital trends. The only difference is the visual templatability has transformed from photos and images to videos and so much more.

This morning, my friend, a huge social media fan, showed me a TikTok video of beauty vlogger Quynhthie, whose TikTok account's got more than 1.8 million followers, and her most popular video attained more than 76 million views. In the video, Quynhthie performed multiple makeup layouts and lipsynced to the hit single "Made you look" by Meghan Trainor. Out of curiosity, I scrolled down the comment section, and with no surprise, everyone was lamenting how gorgeous her looks were and that she was the trendsetter of the "lipsync transformation."

Quynhthie was not the first in the world to carve her name into this "Made you look" already-long-listed trend; in fact, she was among the first to inspire other Vietnamese creators to enlist themselves in this new "lipsync transformation" challenge. Following her footstep, there were Ciin (dancer), thanhmeo.18 (comedy), lebong95 (fitness), neyunn1 (lifestyle), xoainon.official, etc. Rising stars like thiho99, and tranmyuyen2912 also got into the "hall of fame" just after one video. And on TikTok, with its mystical and sometime fairy-like algorithm, that burning desired one-night fame can fall on to anyone. Therefore, although these TikTokers are "freshers" to the lip sync transformation challenge, their talent and fluke have garnered impressive reach and views overnight. Ciin was the most successful among them, even when she was late to the trend. Only after a few days of posting her video, Ciin quickly surpassed Quynhthie, to get the highest records, up to 93 million views and 11 million likes.

TikTokers' tactic of earning new followers was to step out of their comfort zones and experiment with new types of content. Using popular or 'viral' hashtags is a powerful tool to increase visibility and exposure. They can tap into a wider audience and gain followers by participating in trending challenges and using popular hashtags. This is beneficial for individual creators and the platform as a whole, as it allows for a more diverse range of voices to be heard and shared. Joining the popular hashtags is the proven strategy for new TikTokers who want to make a breakthrough in this highly saturated red sea.

Content homogenization and its edges

As many creators tend to produce the same types of content to remain "within the hub," some may concern about the homogenization and loss of original values. The debate on creativity versus authenticity has been ongoing for a long time and has shown no sign of receding. While everyone vied for the 15 seconds spotlight, they tried to learn the "formula" and the "framework"; from the background setting to the caption structure and the hashtags entailed, everything was a mirror image of something else we had seen before on TikTok.

However, in a sense, homogenization can be a positive sign for community building, which includes the community of creators, fans who know the insider's stories, and those who are deeply involved in the boom of that trend. Therefore, the more people participate in popular trends, the greater the sense of community and connection among creators, producers, and people behind the scene. "Made you look" has given make-up artists like Tyle1994 and Tuanngocvo chances to experience different make-up layouts and styles, as some fans pointed out. Later Tuanngocvo became the iconic makeup artist for the "transformation" trend. So this homogenization, in fact, is creating a reciprocating effect on the community from which it is created, which it also nurtures and develops in return.

Deep inside homogenization is circumscribed creativity.

TikTok platform promotes the repetition of content through the hashtag, filters, and effect ecosystem (Abidin and Kaye 2021). It also encourages a wider range of perspectives and experiences, as creators from all backgrounds can participate in the same challenge and add their unique spin. Let's take a closer look at Quynhthie's and Ciin's videos, the two top-rated so far.

@msquynhthie

@cciinnn

The performers were encouraged to use facial expressions and create new hand movements with each makeup look. To increase the hardness level, the TikTokers should try lip sync to the song while maintaining eye contact and movements as long as they all combine and serve as intended. In the "Made you look" challenge, there were six different looks to prepare and act out, in order of appearance: Gucci, Luis Vuitton, "nothing," Versace, "morning hair," and hoodie. According to Phuong Thoa, in a behind the scene video, her team, including a makeup artist and hair artist, worked for 12 hours straight to shoot this trend. There was a lot of effort, money, and brain poured into one single 15-second video.

Although Ciin has credited all the hand movements to Quynhthie, still, observing the two videos, we can see that Quynhthie and Ciin followed two distinct styles and personalities. And these differences could be explained from the girls' backgrounds. While Quynhthie was already a popular beauty YouTuber before joining TikTok, Ciin was a pure TikToker famous for dance videos. Quynhthie was described as a sexy, attractive woman and of low profile, Ciin was known for her energy and activeness and has been on several TV shows. Therefore, although they performed the same moves, the vibe they sent out to the audience was unmistakably separate.

In the first transition, Gucci, Quynhthie, from a basic T-shirt, changed herself with a maroon striped pattern headscarf and GC face jewelry; the highlight of the look was the strong and bold rum red lips. To pair with this layout, Quynhthie chose a simple peplum with fur and a pair of opera gloves, giving out the vibe of a classic noble lady. Meanwhile, Ciin used impressive snake-shaped jewelry sliding from her forehead and continuing to the undereye and cheekbone area, accompanied by a scalp-tight hair plait. Ciin wore a color-block outfit, tying a pear green scarf around her body, feigning a strapless shirt, and layered with a rose pink tweed coat, which made her look like a crazy rich Asian. The choice of clothes would tell a lot about how they were acting out. Given the same hand gestures, every move Quynhthie made, she did with calculated force and rhythm, like in a dance move, so that they suited best with her facial expressions. Meanwhile, with Ciin we felt a little carefree and not as calculated; her moves were all good and at the right angle but lacked the calculated rhythms Quynhthie was so excellent at. But overall, Ciin's video received more views and likes; I guess Ciin's matched very impressive outfits, while Quynhthie's fashion and styles were not as creative.

When Viruss, a YouTuber posted his reaction to some of the videos within this trend on his YouTube, many comments comparing the performances of @quynhthie and @cciinnn started to emerge. The comments were mostly about who was prettier, who had the best performance, who was a trendsetter, etc.

source from @viruss_fann's comment section

Translation

userbp: You are right about QT (msquynhthie), she's just top-notch, the lip-sync matches perfectly and her smile is so sweet, so so beyond, I love her so much usercmt: Quynh Thi (msquynhthie) really led the trend, maybe her makeup is not so much impressive but her expression, her vibe, her eyes, and body language just so enchanting which makes people keep on replaying again and again.

Translation:

userln: this is so true that is the difference from ciin, her smile is so pretty

usertcnhzw: ciin is no door compared to QT (msquynhthie)

source from @viruss_fann's comment section

Translation:

userthn: ciin is so pretty without the bang

usernt: I swear Ciin and xoainon are the most beautiful

In my opinion, this is, in fact, a positive sign of healthy competition that fosters creators' uniqueness. In my previous post about the beauty war, I once said that beauty is in the eyes of the beholders, which still holds in the content war. Even with the same direction and idea, each TikToker still comes up with their own way of delivery that sparkles their personalities the most. If a video gives out an ambiguous vibe, then the video will be removed from the trend and forgotten; only videos deemed high quality, unique and engaging rise through the rank. So what we see here is the circumscribed creativity borne by homogenization, and that homogenization paves the way for even more uniqueness and strong personalities among creators.

And the happy next chapter for our girls

After the success of a series of transformation videos, Quynhthie was invited to give a talk at Foreign Trade University. She demonstrated how she prepared for each shooting, including choosing gestures, hand movements, facial expressions, etc. For Ciin, she continued to develop her new-found content strengths, the lip sync transformation and gaining great achievement. Her latest video, made out to "Flowers" by Miley Cyrus, garnered more than 36 million views, which helped her to become the new trendsetter for this content type.

@quynhthie at FTU university

@ciin's new "Flowers" lip sync transformation video

Overall, hashtag challenges on TikTok are a powerful tool for increasing visibility, connection and strengthening the creators' community. Therefore, homogenizing content can be seen as a positive aspect, as it requires each influencer to contribute their own colors to the shared collective pool. Given that TikTok is a ferociously developing platform that values creativity, in the long run, only TikTokers with unique colors, interesting personalities, and stories can win the hearts of followers.

References:

Abidin, Crystal, Bondy Valdovinos, Kaye. 2021. “Audio memes, Earworms, and Templatability: The 'aural turn' of memes on TikTok” in Critical Meme Reader: Global Mutations of the Viral Image edited by Chloë Arkenbout, Jack Wilson and Daniel de Zeeuw. Institute of Network Cultures. Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. https://wishcrys.files.wordpress.com/2021/11/abidin-kaye-2021-audio-memes-earworms-and-templatability.pdf.

Leaver, Tama, Tim Highfield, and Crystal Abidin. Instagram : Visual Social Media Cultures, Polity Press, 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/curtin/detail.action?docID=6027966.