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This year, maybe more than anything before him, social media has served both to connect people and to reflect society on itself. In 2020, no platform has done this better than TikTok. Sure, people shared news and trolls on Twitter and Facebook, but it was TikTok that provided the best support for the speech of the year. Doctors and nurses have used it for dispel the myths of Covid-19. Witches used it to hex election. Black Lives Matter supporters have used it to share information about the move. Teens used it for make memes for their favorite presidential candidate. Not that everything on the platform was perfect. President Trump used him as a pawn in a very confusing face-to-face with China. It has become a haven of conspiracy theories, and also one for digital blackface. But the whole time, it was there, showing people who they really are, one duo at a time. These are, dear readers, our favorite TikToks from those turbulent years.
Thank you mom, @greyandmama
Look, I think it’s offensive when people say things like “This kid is so cute he made my ovaries tingle,” but the adorable chubby-cheeked toddler with infallible table manners in this video is so cute that i’m actually a little surprised. did not spontaneously conceive immaculate. The concept of the video is simple: the cherub child repeatedly expresses his gratitude. The execution is faultless. Everyone involved deserves a treat. —Kate Knibbs
The ugliest bonsai, @jewslovetrees
The sheer number and brevity of TikToks makes it possible to find exactly the one that tickles your funny bone in this weird, exact, and idiosyncratic way. I don’t know why I like @jewslovetrees so much. Is the delivery unmoved? Culture-specific, hyperbolic self-mockery? Being incredibly passionate about something that very few people care about? Or are bonsai trees just fun on their own? I have no idea. I learned so much about pine cones and tree bark, and I laughed as well. —Adrienne So
Flamenco ostriches, @kochs_corner
TikTok is full of repeatable dances, but none are as exquisite as this pair of ostriches flapping their feathers in perfect flamenco. The footwork! Rhythm! The way their heads pop and fall, while shaking their unable to fly bodies to conga! Bars are closed, nightclubs are closed, but I’ll be fine as long as I have these dancing chickens on my For You page. –Arielle Pardes
Whoa. Bullseye, @justinflom
In the hands of @ justinflom, an M & M’s hit becomes the vehicle for the biggest TikTok prank of the year. This is a hot dog, which fits so perfectly, so stealthily, inside the cylinder, and it takes a real sweetness to be successful. Look at the face of his victim. At the incredibly delayed moment of contact, he registers the false situation. Survival instincts are triggered; the throat tightens in self-protection. I’ve never seen betrayal so close gross. —Jason Kehe
Here is my impression of summer 2020, @jtfirstman
Honestly, picking a Jordan Firstman video as your favorite of 2020 is cheating. He’s already become a favorite of everyone, from Ariana Grande to British Vogue. But I still remember the moment I saw my first installment in his’ Impressions’ series, one where he emulated what it must have been like summer 20. (‘I just feel like not knowing who I am right now, and everyone is mad at me… ”) This came about in the middle of my own summer, and during those 30 seconds, I didn’t go to Coney Island or float in and off the crowded restaurants and beaches didn’t seem so bad. —Angela Watercutter
About the favorite ‘stats’ of all of you, @rynnstar
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