Sarah Drumm is a journalist specialising in small business and start-ups, and the former news editor of modern business magazine Courier. Her work has been published in The Times, Sifted.eu, and The Independent.

In Varli Singh’s first ever TikTok video, she’s on a plane pretending to have a fight in a cramped row of seats. Posted under her username @varlicious, the clip got over 250,000 likes and three million views. For anyone unfamiliar with the platform – launched in the US in August 2018, formerly known as Musical.ly – the comedy of this short clip might seem a little strange. It’s slapstick, and the clips of Singh tussling around with her filming partner are pretty cringey. But that’s exactly what works on TikTok – and teens love it.

Only, Singh is no teen. As a mid-40s mother of two, she’s one of a growing type of power-user that has emerged on this nascent platform. She is, as the New Statesman has coined it, a TikTok Mom. 

 This new type of influencer is making an increasing presence on the platform, which was downloaded over 80 million times in the first three months of being available in the US. 

 And while its user base skews young – 48% of the platform’s users are 20 or younger – its popularity is also rising among those in their 40s, a demographic that makes up 17% of TikTok’s users. 

It’s not just Singh that’s experimenting with making videos on TikTok. Mothers Felicity Kane (@refelicity) and Katie Swanson (@coupon_katie) have 2.4 million followers between them, while grandmothers are getting in on the action, too. Carey Jolly (@c_ima_jolly) now has over 50,000 followers waiting for her to upload her next karaoke clip. Even if moms aren’t running their own accounts, they’re becoming a more common sight on those belonging to teen TikTokers, and the hashtag #mom now has been used on over 5.2 billion videos to denote a parental guest appearance. Moms have emerged as the unlikely stars of TikTok – what is it they like so much about the platform?

While they may not have grown up with social media, the MTV Generation (which includes the mothers of today’s teens) did witness the dawn of widespread internet usage, and they aren’t afraid to figure out new technology for themselves. According to Nielsen, 80% of Gen Xers are active social media users, and spend an average of 6 hours and 58 minutes each week checking their accounts. 

 Their platform of choice is Facebook – used by almost nine in ten – but they hate being bombarded with ads, with 56% saying there’s too much advertising on social media. 

 And while they may not fully understand the world of TikTok that their children seem so absorbed in (it’s estimated that Gen Yers using TikTok spend roughly 52 minutes a day on the app), they are willing to give it a go if it means getting a bit more quality time with their children. 

 According to the Pew Research Centre, mothers are now spending around four extra hours a week with their children than their parents did in 1965. 

Beyond the pranks, their TikTok accounts depict day-to-day family life, almost always featuring their children and showing where they go on holiday or even posting trips to the grocery store. Some mom accounts are geared even more specifically to domestic life. One content creator, @mommy1961, mostly takes videos of herself making family meals and snacks, while Katie Swanson posts clips of herself cutting out coupons and filling up her binder, before going bargain hunting at her local grocery stores. For some of these users, such as Singh and Kane, the goal is to grow an audience. But for others, TikTok can also provide an escape. According to Kane, fellow TikTok Mom @sarahplus3x uses the app as a way to relax. “[It’s] her time away for herself, where she can be creative and just do something for her.” 

Either way, though, posting to TikTok remains a hobby for these moms rather than a source of income, with brands still unsure how to tap into their reach. “When it comes to sponsorship, [TikTok] is still quite new. We are working a lot with Gen Z [content creators],” Alessandro Bogliari, co-founder of The Influencer Marketing Factory explains. “But sometimes with the older generation, while they might be good at making content, they don't really know how to push it. They are not natives of these apps and they don't really know how to do viral marketing by themselves.” 

 Aside from filming clips for her TikTok feed, Singh is a successful food writer and previously founded Indian food journal Varli Magazine, while Carey Jolly has a part-time job. Others, like Swanson, are stay-at-home moms.

Even without dedicating themselves to full-time influencerdom, these content creators have been able to generate huge followings. “Unlike other social media where you have to [spend time building] up a community, on TikTok because of the algorithm you can go viral after just three videos,” Bogliari says. “On YouTube you have to spend maybe five years making videos [to build an audience].” 

 And while TikTok may not have opened its platform up to advertisers and sponsors just yet, it’s tipped to be one of the next major influencer marketing channels. 

 In 2018, TikTok was the most downloaded app in the US, while the company claims a monthly average video view rate of 17 billion on the platform. 

To really grow an audience on the platform, the goal is to get videos featured on the ‘For You’ page of the app – which works much like the discover feed on Instagram – where they can then be pushed to a global audience. This means relying on tried-and-tested successful video formats, and a scroll through most TikTok Mom feeds will reveal a slew of hashtagged challenge videos, cringe clips, and duets 

These women are not necessarily interested in following in the footsteps of the ‘mommy’ bloggers and Instagram momfluencers that have come before them, who predominantly use their platforms to give parenting, fashion, beauty, and lifestyle advice to other women their age. Instead, TikTok Moms are using the platform to ingratiate themselves with teens, posting elaborate pranks and lipsyncing at any chance they can get. This is, after all, what works on the platform: #cringey has been tagged 163.4 million times, while #awkward is even more popular, with 191.1 million tags. As one Gen Z TikTok user, speaking to Vogue Australia, puts it: “[Varli Singh] is the most cringe TikTok-er. She’s not our age, but kids think she’s so funny.” 

Almost half of TikTok’s users are aged 20 or younger

For Gen X parents, the desire to connect with their teens over silly TikTok videos stems partly from concerns around the content their kids are consuming online. In fact, a C. S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll found that, when it comes to using the internet and online behaviours, cyberbullying (61%) and safety (55%) were among the top five concerns that parents had for their children’s wellbeing. 

TikTok has certainly raised cause for concern in the past. In April 2019, the BBC found that the platform was failing to suspend the accounts of people sending sexual messages to teens, and the Wall Street Journal later reported that the Islamic State was posting videos to the platform. 

 But unlike the Baby Boomer parents that came before them – known for adopting an over-involved ‘helicopter’ parenting style – Gen X mothers would much rather be present on the platform to mentor their children than tell them what they can and can’t explore on the internet. “It’s better for a parent to understand and embrace something than looking at TikTok and saying ‘this is so bad for you, you are wasting your time’,” Bogliari says. “Because they’ll just do the opposite.” 

Felicity Kane, who homeschooled her children, sees her family’s use of the app as a creative outlet. “When the boys were younger, they’d film themselves at home doing funny things,” she says. “Now we can do it together. They’re directing me, we’re coming up with ideas, and it’s being creative first and foremost.” Kane says she carefully vets the content posted to her channel to make sure it’s PG – in other words, no swearing or violent pranks – so parents don’t need to worry about their kids watching. “At the end of the day, I’m a mother. It’s part of the responsibility,” she says. “We’re a public account, but I manage everything really strictly in terms of the comments – I have a huge list of blocked words, which gives me the peace of mind that we can be creative as we want and not have to worry.” 

Gen Yers spend roughly 52 minutes per day on TikTok

While TikTok itself is still in the very early stages when it comes to influencer marketing, brands are starting to find ways to collaborate with a new generation of content creators. Because the platform’s algorithm makes it so easy to generate views, influencers are charging lower prices accordingly. The ballpark figure for a sponsored post with a TikTok influencer with between one and 2.5 million followers is about £500, whereas the equivalent on Instagram could cost up to £10,000. 

 The key for brands will be to figure out how to best use this unique spokesperson – the TikTok Mom – as a mentor to influence Gen Z teens’ product choices. Stars like 

 have already nailed how to work the playful platform – originally getting an account with a view to embarrassing her son – to engage a new audience, and now has 250,000 followers. Beauty and fashion brands partnering with her on playful style challenges could, for example, leverage her challenge-based performances to spread awareness in a low-key way.

If TikTok follows the same trajectory into the influencer economy as YouTube and Instagram have done before it, mothers could become an extremely valuable partner for brands. “On Instagram, the comments that moms [receive on their posts] are some of the most quality ones you can find on Instagram,” Bogliari explains. “They exchange tips and points of views, [and write] really long comments. On the contrary, models on instagram just get [likes].” And as Boomers grow ever more active online, brands that can snag the lead with smart challenge-based activities can help to foster this engaged user base. To date, a cross-generational approach seems to be most successful, using humour to unite mothers and kids. For example, 

 appealed to users across generations, who all embraced goofy dancing to a guacamole song in order to free guac on National Avocado Day.

As parents continue to treat the internet – and particularly these sources of youth culture – with a degree of fear, they’re also finding solidarity and information within these social spaces. For mothers, TikTok is a great place to share the life skills that all teenagers approaching adulthood should learn about. Singh’s feed – alongside the comedy sketches – often features messages warning of the dangers of alcoholism, drugs, and bullying. Meanwhile, coupon-cutters like Swanson are teaching Gen Zers how to make the most of their money – something there is certainly an appetite for. Indeed, according to LinkedIn, 59% of Gen Zers want to learn new skills so they can make more money, with 43% preferring independent learning, on their own time. 

'TikTok Revenue and Usage Statistics (2019)'

Alessandro Bogliari is the co-founder and CEO of The Influencer Marketing Factory. A self-described TikTok expert, he has degrees in art direction & management and digital innovation & management.

A TikTok Mom herself, and a marketing professional by day, Felicity Kane has built up a huge following on the platform by uploading videos of her sons being pranked or lip syncing to songs with her.

Boomers (born 1947-1966)

Communications

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Interview with Felicity Kane conducted by the author

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