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When Did Everyone Become Gay on TikTok?
As men push the boundaries with their male friends on social media apps like TikTok, people are accusing them of queerbaiting.
As the pandemic continues in the US and people are largely told to remain home, I have spent plenty of time on TikTok. The social media app has become remarkably good at showing me videos that it knows I will enjoy, so it was no surprise when it began to show me videos of men flirting with each other. As a gay man, I have liked plenty of these flirtatious videos and the more I like them the more that TikTok’s algorithms work overtime to ensure they keep coming.
Recently, I came across a TikTok video with beauty influencer James Charles and musical artist Jason Derulo. In the video, James is found asking Jason if they could do “the thing” just once, with Jason telling James that he knows he doesn’t like to do “the thing”. After James continues to beg, asking Jason to do it just once, they are found harmoniously singing “Jason Derulo”. The video is sexually suggestive and made the audience believe they were going to do far more than sing. One of the users commented, “Did anyone else think they were gonna kiss. Nope just me. Okay.” As innocent and harmless as the video ended up being, it is a part of a larger trend being seen within the app.
