Frog TikTok

About

Frog TikTok is a TikTok subculture, largely taking place under the hashtags #frogtiktok and #frog. The Frog TikTok community is closely related to the alt TikTok, deep TikTok and cottagecore communities. Videos associated with Frog TikTok feature frogs doing any number of things, from sitting in strange positions, to eating bugs, to being pets, and dancing.

Origin

Frogs have been a staple of the meme community for years, with notable examples including Pepe The Frog, Phrog, Foul Bachelor Frog, and It Is Wednesday My Dudes. It's not known what the first Frog TikTok related video is, but the subculture started receiving mainstream media attention in June of 2020, when sites like StayHipp^[1] and Metro^[2] published articles on it.

Spread

As of October 2nd, 2020, there are over 309 million total views on videos under the hashtag #frogtiktok, and 1.9 billion total views under the #frog hashtag. Videos under these tags fall under several notable subcategories, the most notable of which are listed below.

Dancing Frogs

Some of the most popular frog-related videos on TikTok feature frogs dancing to various songs. These videos are frequently tagged with #frogtiktok, as well as tags like #deeptok and #alttiktok for their absurd content.

On June 22nd, 2020, TikToker deeptiktokheadquarters^[3] uploaded a deep-fried video of a frog dancing, garnering over 3.4 million views and 1.1 million likes in three months (shown below, left). On July 16th, TikToker puffitopia^[4] uploaded a video of a frog dancing to the song "Mi Pan Su Sus," garnering over 9.3 million views and 999 thousand likes in just over two months (shown below, right).

Frogs As Pets

On August 8th, 2020, one of the most popular videos under the hashtag #frogtiktok was uploaded by TikToker littlefoot59^[5] (shown below, left). The video shows a user gently pouring water on their pet frog Wendy. The video received over 43.3 million views and 5.1 million likes in just under two months. On August 13th, TikToker famphibian^[6] uploaded a video of their pet frog sitting in various positions in a dollhouse. The video received over 7.5 million views and 1.8 million likes in under two months (shown below, right).

Frogs As LGBTQ+ Icons

Frogs are frequently seen as a positive LGBTQ+ symbol on TikTok. While it's not completely clear why, part of this has to do with Alex Jones' Gay Frogs Rant, and an attempt by the LGBTQ+ community to make a mockery of it. These videos are often collected under the hashtag #gayfrogs, and feature users drawing frogs in pride-associated color schemes, making direct references to the Alex Jones rant, and simply videos of frogs owned by members of the LGBTQ+ community. Popular examples of videos can be seen below. The video to the left, uploaded by taylor.n.art,^[7] received over 350 thousand views in four months, and the video to the right, uploaded by camp.pence.giftshop^[8] received over 26 thousand and 8,000 likes in nine months.

Frogs Sitting In Strange Positions

Closely related to the meme Phrog, many TikTok users post videos of frogs and toads sitting in strange positions, often resembling humans sitting in chairs. On June 3rd, 2020, TikToker shutupben^[9] uploaded a video of a frog sitting on a skateboard (shown below, left). The video received over 10.9 million views and 2.4 million likes in 4 months. On June 7th, TikToker emmalmahon^[10] uploaded a video of a frog sitting at the edge of a pool, garnering over 4.4 million views and 1.1 million likes in four months (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References