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Parker Pannell Thought Social Media Was Really Boring. Then Along Came TikTok

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This article is more than 4 years old.

Why does one social media app catch on with a mass audience while others seem to sink like the Titanic? The answer might have something to do with sheer boredom.

Facebook is a walled garden. Most of us are well-behaved and follow the rules. While Twitter is certainly a breeding ground for trolls, it’s a known quantity. We know we can post short quips and links, and promote brands and content, but it’s fairly predictable these days at least in terms of what you might expect: President Trump posting, famous people complaining.

TikTok, you might say, is a free-for-all by comparison. You never know what will pop up, and that’s the secret to its mass appeal. There are now one billion active users in 150 countries; to be on TikTok is essentially the same as owning Vans or listening to Drake.

When the app debuted three years ago, it was a bit perplexing to some of us. Similar to the now-defunct Vine app (and its new replacement Byte), the videos are short — only 15 seconds. Many of them don’t use spoken audio since the target user is a young adult who probably has their phone on silent. It’s hard to grasp why a video of someone flipping a water bottle onto a table or laughing at school about a locker-room prank would go viral. There’s no rhyme or reason.

And that is exactly what makes it so interesting.

“The reason TikTok is growing so fast is that it is what the Internet world needed,” says Parker Pannell, a TikToker with 1.2 million followers and still growing. “For the past two years, the social media space has been very dull, and it has needed a short-form video platform ever since Vine shut down. TikTok came in at a perfect time. It's now customary to be in front of the camera, it's no longer unusual to see people filming in church, restaurants, and malls.”

Pannell might have a point. And, the guy should know: He’s a master at this.

You might remember him from a YouTube video where he enthusiastically explained all of the luxury features on his flight to Dubai. (Emeritus had upgraded his family due to a scheduling mistake.) He says those long-form videos are hard to create, and he switched to TikTok because they are easier to film — yet, the potential for a viral hit is exactly the same.

“I grew tired of putting so much effort into a video, spending hours creating and editing for it to only get a few thousand views,” he says. “I hosted a social media event in L.A. in October of 2018 and some of the people I interviewed were buzzing about this new thing called TikTok! 15-second videos — that seemed fun to me and a lot easier than filming and editing hours of content. I decided right there at that event to make my first TikTok video. My first TikTok video generated over 800,000 views and my follower base was off and running.”

Interestingly, being a viral video creator is not as serendipitous as you might think. Pannell obviously plans each video well in advance. After watching a dozen of them, I started seeing themes emerge — family comes first, friends are important. The videos often tell a story. One of my favorites shows his parents walking along a sidewalk with him. He leaves to go exploring on his own, and they run into his friend and walk with her. In the next scene, he’s sitting alone. Cue the sad trombone.

“TikTok is all about having a positive environment for its users,” he says. “One way of promoting that is filming with your family and friends because you have good chemistry with them. My parents are fun, creative, and love creating videos themselves. Some of my most viral TikTok videos have had them in it. I also think it makes me more relatable to my viewers.”

It’s still a mystery as to why a video goes viral — or why an entire social media app becomes a generational touchstone — but Pannell says he tends to always post three clips per day. He says his success is due to spending countless hours perfecting his craft. That said, the life of a TikToker is not always perfectly smooth. 

Pannell actually lives in L.A. now and is still in high school (he is taking online school), but his parents are in Kentucky. He has a legal guardian who is a family friend, and his folks visit once per month. When he shoots videos, he sometimes has to prop his phone against a tree because no one else is around to help. He’s an aspiring actor, and seems to have endless ideas and boundless opportunities, but also says he is always thinking of the next shoot.

The one clear lesson in all of this? Nothing is truly random.

For anyone trying to become an influencer or develop a massive following, or for a brand exploring new platforms to reach a larger (or younger) audience, it’s often a matter of posting consistently, telling a story, and engaging with people over a long period of time. Viral posts only last so long. They won’t sustain a career.

Pannell obviously had some luck in how many people saw his YouTube videos initially, but long-term? His videos might be short, but there’s a good chance he’ll be creating them for some time to come. Stay tuned to see what else he can accomplish.

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