Rockets Reach New Heights… On TikTok

As the icon Hannah Montana once said, having the “best of both worlds” is not always a walk in the park. Eight students at Needham High know this better than the average Rocket, having gotten a taste of fame through their popularity on TikTok. Much like the rest of us, these students spend wayyyy more on TikTok than they probably should, but, unlike the rest of us, they are on the path to fame and potentially fortune. As Montana says, “livin’ two lives is a little weird,” so we had these TikTokers share an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at their double-lives. 

If you’re looking to gain fame (and clout) from using the app, just know there’s a lot of different ways to do it. We have Advika Krishnan publishing singing videos, to Michael Cullen and Marcel Lhulier posting mock skateboarding tutorials. Michael Tarantino, better known as Its_michaeltino by his 54.3k followers, told us, “I post fitness, glow up, singing, comedy, and basic reaction content.” Rose Halford says her content is “random parts of my life” and “sometimes my bad dancing.” With so many possibilities for what to post in order to get TikTok famous, many of these TikTokers were surprised when their videos took off. 

Advika Krishnan, @advika.music, had her first big hit when she posted a music video for a song that she wrote, “If Only I Were Cake,” garnering 109.4k likes. But not everyone’s rise to fame involved so much talent; sometimes people just like to laugh at a stupid joke or a relatable instance. Another TikToker, who chose to remain anonymous but sports 15.6k followers, says of their first big video, “It was a joke about Oedipus. Everyone loves a good Oedipus joke.” But, there was another even sillier (and more concerning--if it’s possible to be more concerning than an incestuous Oedipus joke) hit video. Rose Halford, @rose_halford, received 1.2 million likes in August of a video she posted in which she fell over. 

While many of our TikTokers have an expansive audience, they are pretty humble about it all. Tarantino puts it into perspective, saying, “I actually wouldn’t consider it to be ‘fame’ because in the grand scheme of things, 50k followers is only 1/100th of the followers a person with 5 million followers has.” However, to have such a large audience can certainly be taxing. For Tessa Chutkow, “I have never really felt like I was actually really famous, but sometimes it does feel like the whole world is looking at you, and that every video you make has to be the best one you have ever made, or the funniest, or get the most likes or whatever. So I just try to remind myself that at the end of the day the whole point of the app is to be fun, and I shouldn't take it that seriously. And that the number of views and likes and all that stuff doesn't define who you are or your worth as a person.” Michael Cullen and Marcel Lhulier, in true skater fashion, simply “skate to relieve stress from all the hate.”

These TikTokers have followers, but, in some cases, they also have fan accounts. While Tessa Chutkow responded, “HA! No, but that would be hilarious if I did,” when we posed the question of if she had any fan accounts, she probably shouldn’t have been so shocked by the idea. Rose Halford told us that she “had a couple but I blocked them.” And, while @its_michaeltino claims to have no fan accounts, members of the Hilltopper have reportedly seen one around on Instagram (@tinotostitos.)

While the fame clearly has not gone to any of their heads, certain TikTokers have felt it affects them how others view them. “So many people have reached out to me that never did before,” says Michael Cullen. “Switching up 🤦‍♂️Can't even comment on my friends’ posts without them going crazy that a ‘celebrity’ commented😂😂.” The other famous Michael, Michael Tarantino, says that many people have reached out to him in response to his account as well. “I have noticed that more girls were reaching out to me regarding my Snapchat, and guys reaching out to me either regarding my Snapchat, complimenting my physique, or asking for fitness tips.” Tarantino also noticed that “My brother’s friends are all obsessed with me now.” However, most of the TikTokers found that their followers were mostly from outside of school. “Sometimes classmates will be surprised at the fact that my account is so popular, but I don’t think it changes the way they interact with me, especially because I think most people I know from school don’t even follow me!” says an anonymous content creator. 

In true Hannah Montana fashion, some creators have chosen to keep their account a secret from friends and family, as, in their words, “you’ve got to have at least something for yourself, you know?” Another TikToker noted that her decision to keep her identity secret is because she thinks that her friends and family wouldn’t support her content. “My message is kind of controversial, so they may be upset that it could hurt my chances of getting into college or getting a job.” However, other creators do share their account with those close to them. According to Michael Cullen, most of his friends do know about his account “because I don’t really have anything else to talk about.” Advika says that her family and friends have been “excited about it with me the whole time,” while Shira Cooperman’s parents are concerned because “44 thousand is a lot of people to watch what you’re doing, and they want me to be cautious about what I post.”

And while their friends and family may or may not know about their TikTok fame, there’s one group of people that definitely doesn’t: college admissions officers. Unanimously, Needham’s TikTokers divulged that they chose not  to mention their TikTok fame on their college apps, or were not planning on it. While some of the underclassmen stars listed it as a possibility if they became significantly more famous, most of the stars view it as more of a fun pastime, and less as a show of their skills or accomplishments. On the whole, we got a resounding “NO!!!!” as the Real Skaters aptly summed up for the group. 

While they may not be looking to flex their skills for college admissions, after interviewing them all, it does seem like a good amount of effort and forethought goes into the majority of their TikTok fame. Michael Tarantino planned out his rise to fame as a way to prove to people that he would be able to gain followers, while “hoping that, if I became famous, people from school would notice, and/or reach out to me.” In order to achieve this, Michael Tino gave himself some REACH goals. As you can tell, this is a guy who paid attention in middle school wellness classes. His “mindset towards goal setting is to make goals for myself in small increments. For TikTok, my next goal is to reach 60 thousand followers and from there I will set another goal for myself.” And he executed this plan flawlessly, as far as we can tell. With an abundance of likes on any video he posts, and a gaggle of girls commenting on not only his TikTok, but also his Instagram (and apparently also adding him on Snapchat), it seems that Michael has managed to gain an enthusiastic following. Other TikToker’s also went in with a goal. An anonymous TikTok star, who presently has 42.4K followers, says that they went into TikTok with the goal to “to spread my beliefs with as many girls as I can to help empower them.” Their 42.4K followers seem to be listening! Definitely a larger audience than most of us will get to share our beliefs. Advika Krishnan also saw value in her rise to fame, as she expects that her TikTok clout will help her in her music career. We think that it already has: “If Only I Were Cake” already has 31,788 streams on Spotify. 

As to where they get their ideas from, most creators simply find inspiration from their daily lives. “They come to me in my dreams like visions from an angry god,” says an anonymous TikToker. “Just kidding. I think of them like anyone thinks of any ideas; they just sort of happen.” “I have a group of friends, all who have much more followers than me,” says Shira Cooperman, “but we have a group chat and put ideas in there, or I’ll come up with something and write it down then do it later.” But of course, as we all know, behind every successful project is adequate research. Just like the authors of this article, our famous creators spend a somewhat concerning amount of time on the app. According to Advika, she spends “more time than I’d like to admit” scrolling, and Michael Tarantino spends “enough time that it could be considered ‘unhealthy.’” But honestly, who are we to judge? 

As fellow members of the NHS community, we feel collective pride for the Rockets who have blasted off into the universe of internet fame. Many of them expressed their wish to thank their fans, which we know includes an abundance of NHS students themselves. But none expressed their thanks so eloquently as Michael Cullen, representing the Real Skaters. We will leave you with his immortal words: “Thank you for the support, monkeys; hope our tips helped.”