There are a lot of subcultures on TikTok, and it seems like every couple of weeks new ‘sides’ of TikTok users exist. For a very long time, we’ve had a distinction between something called ‘straight TikTok’, consisting mostly of popular dances and content you’d expect to see from all of the things you hear about the app, but also another side of TikTok called ‘alt TikTok’.
What exactly is deep TikTok?
You can say that “Deep Tiktok”, also known as DeepTok, is a subculture of Alt TikTok, but one that distinguishes itself even further. To be fair, DeepTok itself doesn’t really make a lot of sense – the content you can find under these hashtags can be quite weird, to say the least. Deep TikTok tends to create new trends of memes and funny things, and it’s mostly popular with the Generation Z userbase. One could also argue that DeepTok specifically aims to use Gen Z humor elements, for better or for worse.
Even when the deep TikTok branch of the app was made, plenty of users are now even creating new sides of DeepTok. Can you still follow? We’re pretty sure we can’t either. A lot of people really tie DeepTok with the Gen Z humor, and it’s supposed to be in good fun and creative, even if the content is really fricking weird sometimes.
What content can you expect to find on the DeepTok subgenre?
In short, you can pretty much find content on Deep TikTok that can only be regarded as, well, strange. You won’t find any of the popular dances, and most of the top trending music hits won’t be used either – it fully distinguishes itself from the dances and choreographs on the app and only posts weird stuff, sometimes even crazy or unsettling.
Memes, of course, are important too. And deep TikTok will do just about anything to come up with completely new memes out of the blue.
For example, if you’ve ever heard of “beans”, it actually originated from DeepTok. People just go ahead and post pictures and footage of beans, actual beans. Things can get pretty crazy, pretty fast on this side of TikTok.
@treistasty bringing beans to the trè🌳 #fyp #tre #beans #cometothetre
What are some popular DeepTok filters and trends?
Graphically, deep TikTok does have a few filters that really fit in well with the subculture. For example, you’ll be able to spot filters with dancing frogs, but heavily edited graphical effects are also extremely popular, such as monochrome filters or retro glitch-based graphics, as if your old computer screen was malfunctioning. And since the trending posts and filters change so often, you never really know what to expect on Deep TikTok.
Also extremely popular is “department store TikTok”, where people like to impersonate the staff of popular stores, chains, and companies – think of someone who’s roleplaying as a Starbucks barista, for example.
Is deep TikTok dangerous or not suited for children?
Sometimes, images and videos that are posted on Deep TikTok are most definitely unsettling, especially for younger children. For example, there’s this “distorted basement” trend, where people upload footage with heavily edited audio, making it impossible to actually understand what is going on. The sole purpose of this distorted audio is to make the whole thing look absolutely weird and strange, but it can be unsettling to some viewers. Sometimes, DeepTokkers also post children’s toys in videos in unsettling or unexpected positions, hanging by a string off a balcony, for example.
@elbelanger cursed barbie dolls part 4 : barney #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #deeptiktok
In short, it might be a good idea to keep an eye on the content your younger children consume when they’re on TikTok, especially if they’re on the deep side of TikTok.
Some users aren’t happy with the arrival of DeepTok and wish that the app would go back to what the community used to be: united instead of divided into several different groups and subgenres.
How to get on Deep TikTok
Your best bet to get on the deep side of TikTok is to follow a bunch of accounts that are focused on this type of content, and also interact with the videos we’ve described above. See a video about beans? Follow, like, and comment on the video. Hashtags such as #deeptok and #deeptiktok should also point you in the right direction. If you engage with enough content that looks like deep TikTok, your “For You” page will start looking like this side of the app very soon.
