So I've finally done it. I've made a TikTok account (@radiatoryang). Forgive me.
I still prefer text over video, and I certainly don't intend to "pivot to video"... but it was feeling increasingly foolish to lack the video skills / cultural context of virtually everyone under 30 in the entire world.
Now I'm not a total stranger to making video. I used to do weekly level design streams called "Level With Me" on Twitch, where I gained a decent sized following with regular viewers and even some paid subscribers, but the lockdown-era gauntlet of remote teaching marathons quickly burned me out and irrevocably soured me on what used to be a fun hobby.
For this foray into TikTok crafting, I'm approaching it somewhat slowly and methodically...
I have to confess I'm actually not a total stranger to TikTok. I've been lurking in the shadows for years, quietly cultivating a respectably depraved For You feed.
Here I'm most encouraged by how some popular TikTok meme cultures (like Jiafei / FlopTok) can feel so aesthetically experimental and embrace messy shitty incoherence. Bluesky users like to think of themselves / ourselves as sickos and sometimes the label feels true, but most of the time, the strange diversity of TikTok makes Bluesky feel like LinkedIn.
I like how on TikTok it's lowkey embarrassing to post cleanly-shot videos with textbook studio lighting. Send all that wannabe TV shit back to Instagram! Everyone can smell you! No one is fooled by your desperate appeal to production values!
So what am I going to make on TikTok? First I have to overcome the obvious technical skill gap, and learn how to make short basic videos with my phone... probably by making a bunch of short basic videos. Already just from making one little daily vlog, I've learned a lot about planning shots, editing clips, and recording narration. (I forgot to figure out how to generate captions though. Oops.)
As for the longer term, I don't really know what videos I'm going to make. I'm not a celebrity, hot guy, nor dancing child. Do the teens want to see more Quake mod fan cams? Perhaps I'll revive my Twitch-era level design beat, and record short level design commentaries? I also need to figure out how to market our upcoming game Tryhard (WISHLIST ON STEAM NOW) in a sensible authentic way. It's hard to predict anything because I just don't know what TikTok audience I'm going to end up with, if any.
Or maybe, just maybe, I'll finally emerge from the desolate cocoon of my life, and blossom into the hunky hip hop real estate life coach I was always meant to be.
