Mike Kara

About

Mike Kara, also known by his handle @mikekara372, is a creator on TikTok known for his stitches, Duets and clone dance videos. He often stitches contextless videos on his For You page where he comes on at the end to say, "Mike Kara here…" only to then give a small take on the video that he stitched. He became a cult figure on the platform, inspiring other creators to reference him in their own TikToks, usually joking about waiting for Mike Kara to come on at the end of the TikTok they're watching to say his catchphrase. He started posting in mid-2021.

Background

Mike Kara lives in Orlando, Florida. Before TikTok, he was only a podcaster, something he's continued throughout his TikTok career. He's hosted and produced multiple podcasts such as The Central Florida Buzz, Fantastic Florida, What's Up America as well as his own podcast Hello World with Mike Kara. His podcast career started in January 2020, which can be accessed on the website Stitcher.^[1] He also has his own website^[2] which provides links to his Twitter.^[3]

Online History

On June 5th, 2021, Mike Kara posted his first TikTok,^[4] being a video of himself and others at Mount Dora Pizza and Subs in Mount Dora, Florida. The video (shown below) received over 600 plays and 22 likes over the course of eight months.

Kara quickly grew a style of posting that utilized TikTok filters like ones that made him look like the Joker as well as the notable clone dancing filter that made him appear as six people. He started taking song requests from TikTokers in the comment sections of his videos, subsequently dancing with his clones to anything they requested. He kept posting videos using these filters as well as making stitches with random TikToks going into the remainder of 2021 with little to no engagement. Oftentimes, his videos would barely reach over 150 plays.

He started growing a following most notably in February 2022 through his method of spam posting TikToks, often posting up to 20 in one day. His first TikTok^[5] to receive over 100,000 plays was posted on January 31st, 2022, being a stitch with a woman asking, "Wait so you're telling me we can't make out and cuddle as friends?" The TikTok (shown below, left) earned roughly 839,500 plays and108,200 likes over the course of one month. On February 24th, 2022, he posted a TikTok that gained roughly 133,400 plays and 19,400 likes over the course of one week (shown below, right).

Going into the remainder of February, TikTokers started to become aware of Mike Kara's content, so much so that they began to ironically reference him in their own stitches, subsequently waiting for him to appear at the end. The videos started to align with ironic jumpscares featuring Mike Kara's face and catchphrase. For instance, on February 19th, 2022, TikToker^[6] greendaylover46 posted a stitch with a Mike Kara video that earned roughly 47,300 plays and 6,000 likes over the course of three weeks (shown below, left). On March 2nd, 2022, TikToker^[7] heyheybobbyj posted a video that waited in anticipation for Kara to appear, only for him not to, earning roughly 527,500 plays and 72,200 likes in two days (shown below, right).

As of early March 2022, Mike Kara gained roughly 80,600 followers and 1.3 million likes on TikTok.^[8]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References