TikTok star reaches 50,000 followers by spreading the message of positivity
During one of the many cold and snowy days I experienced while living in the Midwest, I finally decided to download the highly talked about short-form video app, TikTok. I wanted to see what all the hype was about and what I could possibly be missing.
Instantly, I found myself addicted and unable to stop scrolling through the content created by people of all ages throughout the world. The videos that showed up on my feed ranged from everything from boyfriend challenges, teachers coping with the pandemic, and a LOT of dancing. TikTok clearly thinks I’m a bored high schooler and I’m okay with it.
But, on one particular scrolling spree I came across a familiar face, my high school pal, Austin Tipograph, who was dancing his face off in a blue romper covered with rainbow dinosaurs.
As someone who grew up doing musical theater, it’s not unusual for me to notice an acquaintance on a media platform showing off their talents. However, Austin is taking on TikTok in his own way, by not just performing, but also spreading the message of positivity during this crazy time.
Like millions of people during the pandemic, Austin immediately became infatuated with TikTok and eventually began making videos of his own. He said at first the videos were for his own personal enjoyment, but one particular video changed everything.
He turned to TikTok to ask for wardrobe advice after losing weight. The video gained him over 100,000 views and the response continued to grow from there.
“I make a lot of like random silly things and then I do a lot of stuff about just body positivity and just being happy and confident because that was something I struggled with for so long,” Austin said.
Austin adds that TikTok is displaying a newfound acceptance of imperfection rather than the typical edited “perfect” images we see on a daily basis on other social media platforms. He says TikTok is changing the norm by catering video content to the viewer.
“The people who need to see stuff about reaffirming your body image and being positive and loving yourself… you will see that. I never see videos of people trying to be the perfect look or whatever. I just don’t see those because that’s not what I try to do.” Austin said.
It’s hard not to smile watching Austin’s upbeat TikToks. He sings, he dances, and sometimes he just asks for help from his thousands of viewers. Whether he’s just saying something simple to make someone’s day or giving a full out Broadway worthy performance, it’s clear that viewers want more.
He recently reached 50,000 followers on his page and has plans to collaborate with other artists through the platform. As for right now, he’s excited to see where TikTok will lead the world next.
And for me, Austin’s media success makes a lot of sense. I’ll never forget singing Beyonce riffs with Austin backstage during rehearsal for our high school production of Hello Dolly! We may not have been the leads of the musical, but backstage we thought we were legends. I’m so glad that the world now sees Austin in this way too.
“I just get a lot of comments where people are like, ‘you are such a ball of joy and energy’ and I’m like, ‘Really? Thank you, wow!’ Because it’s not something that I felt for a really long time, so I’m really happy that I can be that for other people because I kind of needed that,” Austin said.
