Op-Ed: Why Can’t Charli D’Amelio Just Be a Teenage Girl Who Dances on TikTok?
Last month, my TikTok for you page (FYP) was flooded with videos about Charli and Dixie D’Amelio. I normally don’t see them much on my FYP, but they had gotten into controversy over a YouTube video in which Charli made a comment about wishing she had 100 million followers instead of 98 million. This resulted in thousands of people calling her ungrateful for the success she already has and even losing close to one million followers on TikTok. The sisters were also called out for their rude behavior towards the private chef who made their dinner for the video. It is clear that Charli and her sister acted poorly in the situation. Their privilege definitely showed. They were rude and certainly entitled in their actions. But I think that this particular situation points to a larger issue we have in society: we collectively place social media creators on a pedestal and project unrealistic expectations on these “influencers” who have no desire to live up to them.
We really need to adjust our expectations for social media creators. This is not the first instance any of us have seen influencers getting “cancelled” over their actions. Social media creators, and young celebrities in general, are constantly being chastised for a lot of the same mistakes that we all make at some point in our lives while growing up: being sassy when uncalled for, lashing out, or even being rude. Of course, larger issues like racism, homophobia and sexism should by all means be reprimanded. People like that should not be given a platform. And people with social media accounts that reach millions should be conscious of what they say and how they act. However, we have to remember that social media creators are just people.
Take Charli, for example. She is just 16 years old. When I was 16 years old there was a long list of foods that I would not have touched with a 10 foot pole (nor would I today at 20 years old to be completely honest). If I had anything over 300 followers when I was that age I think I would have exploded into a million bits. I cannot imagine the weight that this girl must have on her shoulders. She is a teenage girl dealing with problems like body image and mental health—struggles that we all experienced when we were growing up. Except she has the eyes and opinions of literally millions of people constantly on her. We have to accept that she, like so many other creators, is going to slip up. Rebbeca Jennings of Vox writes, “You can like Charli D’Amelio for seeming like a ‘normal’ high schooler, but you also have to accept it when she acts like one. Being sassy at the dinner table, at least to this childless adult, seems like a terrible reason to get someone canceled.”
Charli’s social media content primarily consists of TikTok dances and videos of her hanging out with fellow creators. Her personality has clearly been widely liked as she has more followers on TikTok than Germany has people. Generally, Charli is completely harmless. The outrage over her reaction to her private chef is partly because now that Charli has built such a powerful platform, she is automatically considered a “role model.” A 16-year-old girl who makes one minute long dance videos is now supposed to be a role model to millions of other young people. That concept is, for lack of better words, absolutely bananas insane to me. I simply do not think Charli is in a position to be a role model, and we should not expect her to be one.
A criticism I often hear about Charli, and other social media creators who make similar content, is that she has so many followers and such a giant platform just for posting dance videos. This is absolutely true, and what is wrong with that? Why can’t Charli D’Amelio just be a teenage girl who dances on TikTok? Why can’t a young girl have fun and post videos online and gain a following and amass success? What is so wrong with that? And why is it so wrong for her to want to have more followers and reach such a giant milestone like 100 million?
You might say, “Oh well, there are so many other people who deserve the platform.” A young person working on social justice issues or a human rights activist should be the one with 100 million followers on TikTok. As the Editorial Director of Pulse Spikes, a nonprofit publication dedicated to introducing young visionaries to the world, I have had the privilege to meet many young people who I wish had 100 million followers on TikTok because I think it would make our world a better place. The fact that people like Maya Penn, an environmental activist and eco-fashion designer, or Malavika Kannan, author and nonprofit founder, do not have 100 million followers and someone like Charli D’Amelio does is much more reflective of our society as a whole than who these influencers are as people. We place a greater emphasis on entertainment than we do on addressing some of the bigger social issues that we face today, and that is why we are where we are. The problem here is not Charli D’Amelio, the problem here is us.
I often wonder what we can do to reconcile this. I ultimately think that we do more damage than good when we force these creators into positions of being role models or activists. Performative activism is a real problem on social media, and we all know that reposting an infographic only goes so far when it comes to creating real change in society. A major celebrity or creator with millions of followers posting a black square on Instagram does not get us anywhere. But that same celebrity giving up their social media platforms for a week and allowing a young changemaker to speak about their issues does. That same celebrity or creator working alongside these changemakers and posting about them does make a difference.
I think it is time for us to accept that celebrities and social media creators are not the role models we should be looking up to, and they never were. To me, the most helpful framework to think about this would be to see social media creators and celebrities as what they are: just people. Like any other person, I would expect them to be kind and considerate of others. I would also expect them to make mistakes, like we all do. We need to stop forcing these creators to be role models and activists and turn to real people who are out there protesting and holding people in power accountable, those who are dedicating their lives to creating positive change instead. I want to be clear that this does not mean that celebrities get a free pass to be terrible people. These influencers should not be ignorant, they should aim to educate themselves as much as possible and show up for these causes. Right now we are putting an immense amount of pressure on influencers to be activists and perfect people themselves. Since that’s not their wheelhouse or area of expertise, let's just leave them to be entertainers and move on. In her article, Why We Shouldn’t Rely on Social Media Influencers for Lessons on Life and Morality, Ghausia Hussain talks about the importance of being critical. It may be the case that some of these influencers may be positive role models, but we should have the ability to think critically about them and what they promote.
There is room for both activists and young entertainers on social media. They both deserve the platform, and they both should be given the space to gain those 100 million followers. Let's make sure that we are giving space and a platform to those actual activists and that these major social media stars are pointing their own followers in their direction. Stop expecting Charli to be a role model and just let her make dancing TikTok videos in peace. Follow real role models, activists and changemakers instead. They are out there and they deserve your attention just as much as Charli does.
STORY ANA SANDOVAL
GRAPHIC JANICE KIM