These TikToks Suck (But Perform Better)

Are we the imposters? Or are they? | ~4-min read

‘Tis a pleasure Padawans,

Lately, us captains have caught a case of imposter syndrome. The cause? Well, slowing growth mixed with the fact that the moment we go onto our FYP, another stupid dance video blow right by us in views.

This then leads us to the existential crisis of, “what the fuck are we even doing with our lives? Why am I spending so much time on 45-second videos?”

*Sigh*, Captain Oulashin — take it away.

I’ve spent most of my life studying the art of filmmaking and storytelling only to be bested by teenagers who just discovered Reddit.

Hyperboles aside, there’s no “right” way to do TikTok or short-form content in general. But, while people like myself, Tejas, and Danny spend hours grueling over a single video, there are creators out there who put in less effort and have maximal success. That’s frustrating to me. 

Take @reddit.stories for example. Boasting 3.1M followers, the channel is filled with videos that are nothing more than screenshots of Reddit threads and a text-to-speech voice-over. The channel has close to 100 million likes, millions of views on almost every video, and grows at a rate that I could only fathom.

While I’m not discounting the thought, effort, and strategy behind the channel, I am frustrated. Frustrated that I chose to set the bar so high, and even more frustrated that I didn’t think of this format. Finding the best stories on Reddit is easy - every sub has a “sort by” feature. Three or four screenshots and a quick copy and paste later, you’ve made a viral hit and you haven’t even wiped yet.

Why couldn’t that have been me? Why couldn’t that have been you?

Tons of “low-effort, high-reward” accounts like this exist, so why wouldn’t I choose to do the same? The answer changes every day, but it’s something along the lines of putting heart, soul, vulnerability, and personality into my content. Yes, the payoff (and payout) is not as big, and yes, I could easily pivot to something much simpler, but I’m proud of what I make.

If you’re being your authentic, truest self in your content, you should be proud of yourself too.

There are always going to be people who take the easy way out, but I believe thatthose who put their figurative blood, sweat, and tears into their content are the ones who make a lasting impact.

Joe Bartolozzi’s content does NOT suck. I know the title of this Log says so, but that was clickbait. Joe, no hard feelings, we’re TikTok friends… your content is awesome… don’t be mad…

He was one of the first accounts that I saw when I started creating. He is hilarious, unequivocally himself, and apparently can create three TikToks in 20 minutes? Are you kidding me?

It takes me an hour and a half MINIMUM to ideate, script, record, import, edit, caption, export, and upload each video… and for him to work at a speed 1349% more efficient than me, with results that BLOW me out of the water… what the fuck am I doing on the app?

Joe has 17.4M followers. Posts on average three to five times a day. Averages around 1M views a video.

I have 457.6K followers. Post MAYBE once a day. Average around 40K views a video.

I’m jealous. Really jealous. But I’m finally coming to terms with it. Although I have a smaller following, it’s a valuable one - a following of creators and entrepreneurs looking to build larger than themselves.

Joe has an unlimited supply of ideas due to his audience participation. Mixed with the fact that he can make a video in under 10 minutes, that’s a deadly combo. My process, however, is not as dialed in. But each video I put out, I’m fulfilled. I feel like I impacted someone and my voice was heard.

Joe is successful, but so am I. That is the beauty of the industry we are in. We all start on a blank canvas that can go any which way. 

There are all sorts of cliches I can end this with: comparison is the thief of joy, ambition is the enemy of success, but I’ll leave you with one that a mentor told me the other day that really stuck.

You are never doing as good or as bad as you think.

OK, I'm going for a different approach here. You've heard Sean and Tejas whinge about jealousy and comparison. But let's give them a little perspective. 

Speaking at USC in 2018, Oprah Winfrey emphasizes:

"Become so skilled, so vigilant, so flat-out fantastic at what you do - that your talent cannot be dismissed."

Look, I'll be the first to admit that seeing these "low-effort" TikTokers go viral before they've had their breakfast has me occasionally doubting myself. 

But that's what Tejas said. The same Tejas that can create a TikTok in 1/10th of the time as me. But that doesn't concern me. I didn't start making videos for overnight success. I still don't, now. 

I've ummed and erred about cutting my time spent on videos. Maybe I'd have quicker growth. But I'd also have an entirely different group of followers - who'd see me as someone I'm not. I pride myself on the work that goes into my projects. Sometime down the line, I'll thank myself for it.

What's that old-timey line by that physicist guy? Something about every action having an equal and opposite reaction. In this case, it's how much of yourself you put into your craft. Whether you make five videos a day, or spend all week on one - if you're absolutely crazy about what you're making, and keep at it - the success will come. 

Some of my favourite creators wouldn't think of putting out a video that took them 10 minutes. Look at @recider, @darendarendaren, or @lastmanstanley. The extraordinary effort put into their craft is why their names are known.

With all this said, it's important to state - the most important factor for success is consistency. By no means force yourself to work on something longer than it needs, or longer than you can. But if you're gonna spend all week on a video, do it again the next week. And the week after. You’ll enjoy the suffering. I know I do. And before you know it, it all would've been worth it.

Who are some of your favorite creators? How long do you think it takes them to make what they make? Does making a piece of content fast automatically make it “good?” Let us know down below. And like always, we’ll respond to every single one - that’s an OW Promise!