Oh, TikTok.
Whether you’re addicted, reluctantly trying to quit, or you’re one of the few who still refuse to download it, there’s no denying that there is a power over clock app algorithm – one that builds community, makes connections and launches careers.
Some users have managed to make TikTok a full-time job. For others, making videos is just a creative outlet and a hobby.
TikTok’s often mystical algorithm makes the “For You” page show you videos about things you like, things you didn’t know you liked, and niche things you didn’t know you wanted to know about – and there are many niches.
Here are a few Hoosiers to follow on TikTok who have gained viral fame:
Telissa Carpenter and Isaac Sharp
Isaac Sharp’s favorite Disney movie is “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”
“Snow White is beautiful and kind,” Sharp told IndyStar. “And she loves the Seven Dwarfs for who they are.”
Sharp, 29, has autism. His mother, Telissa Carpenter, runs a TikTok account with Sharp called @positivelyawesomeisaac. She started taking videos of Sharp and posting them to share with friends and family on Facebook years ago.
At the suggestion of friends, Carpenter started posting on TikTok in September. Their very first video reached hundreds of thousands of people and the count grew – fast.
“It just exploded,” Carpenter said. “We didn’t expect it at all.”
Just six months later, the account has over 960,000 followers, over 24 million likes and a merchandise line where fans can purchase shirts with some of Sharp’s lyrics, such as: “I work hard, but not too hard.”
TikTok has been a way for Sharp to connect with people and make friends, as Carpenter said there are a lot of accessibility barriers in Indianapolis. Paratransit isn’t always as safe and reliable as it should be, she said, and many of Sharp’s regular social outings have been canceled due to the pandemic.
“It opened up a whole new world for her to have interactions with other people, other peers who are neurotypical, not just neurodivergent,” she said. “It gave him, you know, something to do and something to enjoy.”
Now that Sharp has a TikTok following, he will often be recognized in public, Carpenter said. This happens both out of state — like when they took a trip to Disney World — and when he’s out and about in Indianapolis.
“People are nice,” Sharp said of meeting fans and supporters in public. “I always like to meet nice people.
Christian Dake
Christian Daake, @cpdaakewas said in “probably 100 comments” that his TikTok feels like he’s on a FaceTime call with him.
Daake, 26, is a third-year medical student at Indiana University. He downloaded TikTok last December and started posting videos of his dog. A few videos later, he started “turning the camera” on himself and his audience grew from there.
He’s no stranger to making real connections through social media. After seeing an Instagram post from the indiana daily student about an IU master’s student, Yi Jia, who needed a liver donation for his cancer treatment, Daake donated part of his liver to Jia in December.
Daake said he would like to use his presence on TikTok to connect organ donors with people in need of living donations.
A born and raised Hoosier, Daake is always ready to defend his home state and the city he now calls home.
“When people kind of discredit Indianapolis, I’m like, yo, wait,” Daake said. “There is a lot to do here. Just because we’re not in LA or New York doesn’t mean it’s nowhere.
TikTok has been a way for Daake to relax and unwind from the stresses of medical school.
“My only goal in all of this has been to make people smile, to make them happy, and to bring something to people’s lives that they wouldn’t have gotten from the next creator on TikTok,” he said. declared.
Cherie Wiser
If there’s one thing you need to know about Cherie Wiser’s TikTok account, @wholesome.ish.momthat’s what she loves My casethe Indiana Courts Online Search Tool.
In one of her many viral videos, while a snippet of Megan Thee Stallion’s “Hot Girl” sounds “I can’t talk right now, I’m doing some hot girl bullshit,” Wiser reveals that the activity of hot girl in question is “Find my Facebook friends on mycase.in.gov.”
Wiser makes videos for Hoosier humor lovers. It also plays on the “feuds” between Indianapolis and its neighborhoods, as well as its surrounding towns – like Greenwood, Carmel, Fishers, Westfield and Noblesville.
Terrell Davis
Terrell Davis grew up with the likes of Fred Rogers and Bob Ross: “good wholesome content that makes people feel good about themselves”.
This is the vibe of his TikTok account, @mintybongwater, where he shares his many passions: plants, tea, crystals and more.
Davis, 28, worked at Costco during the early days of the pandemic. He first downloaded TikTok during this time just to browse, but eventually started making plant videos.
One night after posting a video, Davis went to bed with 26 subscribers and woke up with 14,000 subscribers and hundreds of thousands of views on his post. It was just the beginning.
Today, he has 1.7 million followers on TikTok and social media is his full-time job. He launches his own brand of tea, called “Mintea”, has a line of goods and plans meetings across the country.
Davis makes several videos a day, including saying “good morning” and “good night,” playing singing bowls, introducing his followers to different types of plants, teas, and crystals, and taking them with him on field trips. town.
“It’s almost like a public figure type thing at the same time,” he said, “just kind of taking people with me where I’m going for about seven to 15 seconds a day.”
Davis’ TikTok may have started as a plant account, but it’s grown into a community — a community where millions of people can come together and embrace wellness.
“I just want people to feel good,” he said. “I love making innocent, enjoyable content that can be for everyone.”
Allison Rochel
In a recent TikTok postAllison Rochell lamented the state of her husband Isaac’s free agency, asking his agent to tell them what team he’ll be signing with next.
“I’m sick of waiting !” she says. “I watched Zillow in 32 different cities! 32! Do you know how that feels?”
Rochell, 27, shares a glimpse of what it’s like to be married to an NFL player with her 1.4 million TikTok followers at @allisonkuch. Her husband is currently a defensive end for the Indianapolis Colts, although, as his wife laments, he is a free agent.
In addition to her notoriety on TikTok, Rochell, 27, is an influencer, entrepreneur and graphic designer.
With her husband, she co-hosts a podcast, Baby and braidsand owns an Airbnb in Scottsdale, Domaine Margot.
Rochell’s TikTok content includes vlogs, dances, comedy, real estate, lifestyle and relationship discussions. One of them most watched videos has nearly 5 million likes. It tells the story – in short, in TikTok’s signature form – of the couple 2017 breakup to their marriage in 2021.
Philip Cook
Phil Cook is in his element as he pours chemicals into a hollowed out ping pong ball, intending to show how firefighters set off controlled burns in forests.
“How cool is that?” he says in the video.
Cook, says @chemteacherphil on TikTok, is a professor of chemistry at Culver Academies. He started making videos in 2019, but didn’t really go viral until the pandemic started.
Learn more about Cook: TikTok star Chem Teacher Phil films viral videos of his science class in Indiana
His videos are fun, entertaining and always informative – he makes biodiesel from cooking oil, paper from grass clippings and more.
Cook’s account has over 3.5 million followers and he’s even collaborated with top brands like Volkswagen, Benefit, and Pilot gel pens. A recent collaboration between Cook and PepsiCo encouraged students to think creatively on recycling initiatives.
Paige Bramlett
Paige Bramlett surprised her son, William, with a puppy for Christmas. William loved the surprise – and millions of people on TikTok too.
Learn more about Bramlett: Former school staff member who adopted student goes viral on TikTok
Bramlett, 26, adopted her son, now 8, in 2021 after becoming his adoptive parent when he was 23. The two met when Bramlett was a behavioral specialist at William’s school.
On his TikTok, @paigebram, she shares snippets of her life with William and their Weimaraner pup, Banks. She is also an advocate for people to help foster children.
“It has been great to tell our story in hopes that it sheds light on fostering and adoption here in our community and around Indianapolis, because it is much needed,” Bramlett previously told IndyStar.
Reach IndyStar Trending Reporter Claire Rafford at [email protected] or on Twitter @clairerafford.
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