As I’ve been procrastinating midterms via doomscrolling, I keep happening upon this trend on TikTok in which creators will disclose their top five niche drama events to occur on the app. Now, one example of this makes sense, two sure, but one day I was scrolling and got 10 different videos of the same genre within an hour and a half. Why do we as a community on TikTok care so much about drama that has quite literally nothing to do with us?
The German language has a word for this phenomenon of deriving joy from others’ misfortune or misery: Schadenfreude. In my very extensive research (a brief search on Google and Google Scholar), I can give several explanations, but I am going to focus on two.
The first explanation is more natural: People love to feel important. Since the beginning of this century, reality television has been one of the most lucrative forms of entertainment and a seemingly “easy” way to rise to fame.
Plenty of reality stars have since become celebrities independent from their initial point of recognition, such as Kelly Clarkson (“American Idol,” season one), Jojo Siwa (“Dance Moms,” season five) and Emma Stone (“In Search of the New Partridge Family”).
These shows demonstrate every aspect of a highly competitive or stressful situation in a very personal manner, leading viewers to form highly parasocial relationships with the contestants, going so far as to refer to these figures with their first names on some shows such as “Love Island” or “Dancing with the Stars.” The tone and location of these TikTok dramas provide a similar effect, as the platform as a whole is thought of as a location of our peers.
Ordinary people make up most of our feeds, not Hollywood celebrities. Between that and the actual physical location where these videos are recorded, such as the interiors of people’s houses, the interiors of their cars or while they are on their daily commute, it tricks the brain into believing that it is engaging in a one-on-one conversation rather than watching a post with hundreds of thousands of views.
My second explanation is exactly the reason I stumbled upon this topic at all: People inherently want to distract themselves from their own stressful lives.
The majority of users on TikTok are between the ages of 18 and 34, which also happens to be the most notoriously stressed age demographic. Distractions like the outrageous claims by Kendra about her therapist or the not-so-mysterious disappearance of Chanty Beluga provide comfort to those with stressors much more realistic, like rent or what the future may hold. I myself went down the niche TikTok rabbit hole in a mission to distract myself from the impending doom that my midterm grade may or may not have on my GPA.
Despite the more depressing side of why we put our attention towards the microcosms of community formed by online dramas, there is still purpose behind it. People can not live their lives in a state of constant stress and, despite its addictive traits, it truly does bring joy into people's lives.
Either way, the root of why we engage with these senseless stories shared by people who, consciously or unconsciously, crave a little bit of attention should not discourage you from doing so. But if it does, I implore you to go for a walk, read a book or watch your favorite rom-com to get that drama fix.
Caitlin Haley is a first-year double majoring in political science and journalism and pursuing completing a minor in French. While part of the Miami Student she is also active in both Women in Law and the Miami University Model United Nations as well as a flute player in the Miami University Marching Band.
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