Ninth grader Sofia Schwartz scrolls through TikTok in between classes. Instead of being greeted by polished, perfect content, she is greeted by a video of an influencer talking about her struggle with breakouts while applying her makeup and getting ready.
While Sofia usually just aimlessly scrolls through videos, this one catches her eye: she rarely sees influencers being up close and vulnerable with their viewers.
“Get ready with me” confession videos are engaging millions of viewers, many of whom are beginning to feel genuinely represented in the content they see online.
In these sorts of videos, influencers talk candidly about a range of unvarnished topics, all while meticulously applying strokes of contour and foundation in preparation for the day. Videos with the #GRWM hashtag have been viewed more than 72 billion times since last May.
Sofia enjoys this more authentic content that has taken over TikTok, and she finds it reassuring to see others dealing with similar struggles as her.
“I think it’s really interesting to be able to see people with such high positions on social media have such common day-to-day problems that their viewers have,” Sofia said.
Like content from prior years before the trend emerged, the videos have an unrealistic and unattainable quality. Influencers are still using expensive products, wearing lavish clothing and going somewhere fancy. But now they are confessing personal and often blunt details about their lives to viewers and appearing more relatable, which was rarely the case a few years ago.
Sophomore Xia Nesbitt thinks it’s valuable that influencers are finally opening up and being honest with their audiences, as opposed to sharing idealistic and over-touched versions of their lives.
Xia said, “At the end of the day people just want to see people like them instead of clearly fake content.”
Sofia finds it refreshing to now relate to content being shared when it was far more difficult to do so before. Influencers now talk about realistic topics such as anxiety, depression, struggles with acne and body image.
In the videos, influencers talk to their viewers as if they are friends on a FaceTime call. They share stories about relationships or friendships with their viewers and often ask for advice on how to deal with a situation.
Viewers are able to discuss in the comments and many find they have shared experiences and feel like they are not alone.
Sophomore Angela Fitzgerald said, “I think it’s nice to see someone who is like you and relates to you and it makes their content more enjoyable and it makes you feel good about yourself ”
Angela believes the parasocial relationship between an influencer and their viewers is personal because of how the influencer is opening up, but she also believes that there is a level of detachment.
Angela said, “There is definitely a level of distance with an influencer just talking to a screen.”
One of the most popular get-ready-with-me influencers is Alix Earle, who rose to fame last year after posting chatty videos where she often discussed her struggle with acne and anxiety in high school. Since going viral, she now has over 6 million followers on TikTok.
Sofia frequently watches Ms. Earle’s content. She finds that Ms. Earle’s videos often stick with her throughout the day. The TikToks she usually glances at are always quickly forgotten, but the specific video she watched before class stuck with her because she felt like there was finally content that she could relate to.
