Of Course I Went Viral

I did not have a single shred of doubt when I started this "project" in which I was going to start posting videos on TikTok while I was unemployed, and bored, that I would go viral. I have really good moments of lore that are perfect for short videos tied to major pop culture events and/or are "shocking" or "interesting." I have watched enough of these videos to know this. I just never actually started doing it until I was stuck with writer's block and needed a creative outlet and suddenly found myself with a lot of time in between the applying for jobs, and random interviews, and bailing on my friends (sorry, I love you.)

I also needed to remove the barrier in my head that I needed to look "good" aka that I needed to wear makeup and Actually Really Try. That is what is so great about TikTok, you don't have to be as polished as Instagram. I am vain enough that my best friend is the "Flawless Skin" filter, but that is all I use. I do not alter my hair or my face or voice otherwise, because I needed to be comfortable with how my face looks, basically as it is, if I was going to be posting it all the time. That was key, because the strategy needed to include my face on top of the photos and videos I was sharing. Again, I know what I'm doing. And TikTok's green screen filter while filming makes that so easy.

So I started posting, and of course, most of them are flops. I have like zero followers. But I'm learning with every post I make and tweaking things as I go, and getting way more comfortable. People do NOT give a shit about my apartment, which are my favorite videos to make because I love my apartment and think it's decorated impeccably. I'm confident I will crack the code there at some point and am getting closer.

Back to the lore. I mean, being in multiple episodes of television and a major music video is just really good material, and those videos have all done decently to well. That Jonas Brothers/Moviefone thing is so stupid and funny. All the photos of people I met going to concerts a million times a week have been seen by tens of thousands of people. I posted about a project I did back at FIT which I really loved (and am still far too obsessed with), people who also love Cory Kennedy liked that one, so that reached its target audience. I made a joke at the expense of those dumbass men who go under full anaesthesia to get giant, ugly tattoos and the weirdos who don't have enough money to do that but got offended at me telling those other men (of which there are like 5? 12? IDK) that their souls were rotted, got to it and I had to shut down the comments.

I posted a video about Nicole Richie's birthday post for her daughter and that randomly took off and was my highest viewed video (it's currently sitting at a little over 200K views) until I dropped the hysterectomy bomb. It's doing well on TikTok but it has absolutely exploded on Reels. Over half a million people, if the analytics are to be believed, now know about what is (stupidly) considered a controversial decision.

It has been wild. A lot of beautiful things have happened. I have connected with fellow sterile baddies. Multiple, real-life people have learned the difference between a total and radical hysterectomy, and not only that, but they said they were grateful to me for explaining my story and educating them. It feels powerful. And good. If even one person gets to make this decision, in a world where everything is against you making it, it will all be worth it. Because alongside all of the beautiful, there is ugly, and Reels is filled with some of the ugliest people I have ever had the discomfort of crossing paths with.

I delete the really bad comments as I see them because I will not entertain trolls. But I will entertain presumed real people who are being dumbasses, and by entertain, I mean I will have a little back and forth until I get bored, like a cat. Sometimes it's more fun than other times. I would rather go back and forth with people on my level, both emotionally and intellectually, because that is way more fun, but I fear that is not the case.

I've had to set a few mid-viral boundaries, which I've been doing via the pinned comments on the post as opposed to follow-up videos.

Someone tried to start with me because I was "gatekeeping" the name of my doctor, which was just wildly stupid, but again, there's a real lack of decorum on Reels. I kept repeating myself with the subreddits, where I got all my information from in tandem with my doctors, so I kept that up there as well, to try and help people. The second one was for me.

I guess it's going to keep going? In the time it has taken me to write this, I haven't looked at my phone, so I will go back to hundreds of notifications to read through because I am taking the community management of it all perhaps a bit too seriously, but it really does just come with the territory of this level of exposure, I think. But I don't know, this is my first time. Even though I knew it would happen, because I love telling stories, and people like hearing them. And wow, what a powerful thing.

Love you! Send help. (And a job.)

Liza

AN UPDATE LITERALLY 30 MINUTES LATER AFTER SENDING THIS CAUSE I WAS FEELING SILLY:

They got me. My Instagram account has been suspended. I do not know why. It says I violated Community Guidelines, but I did not. It's not currently letting me appeal like it's supposed to, so we'll see. But just like that, I am no longer going (mega) viral. Truly a perfect twist. I couldn't write it better myself.

Another update, as of the next morning:

My appeal finally went through, and my account was brought back. I never saw any sort of reason as to why I got suspended, but it's not surprising. The video went dark overnight, but is back to being pushed out. In fact, I got this perfect screenshot:

What a journey!