FourFront Fictional TikTok Influencers

About

FourFront Fictional TikTok Influencers are a collection of 22 characters created by Philadelphia-based company FourFront Media that post on TikTok in the style of influencers. Their videos are scripted and potentially connected, as FourFront has plans to reveal that the cast lives in the same fictional universe, which their founder has compared to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

History

The FourFront TikTok universe of influencers started around the end of March 2021. One character with the handle @thatsthetia launched her TikTok on March 30th, 2021.^[1] The following day, she posted the first video in what would become her story arc: that her boyfriend is secretly an African prince and she may become African royalty.

Other characters include Ollie, a transgender man who sets out to find his estranged father, who he later discovers is trans, and @sydneyplus, who discovers her sister's fiancé is cheating on her. Creators make clear that their content is fiction in their bios. FourFront characters have hosted Zoom events to meet with fans. Ultimately, the company wants to find ways to monetize the meet-ups.

Online Presence

Across all of FourFronts accounts, the company has garnered over 281 million views and 2 million followers as of October 12th, 2021.^[3] The venture has raised some concern among viewers who say it is difficult to tell if the content is fictional without going onto a character's page and reading the disclaimer.^[2] The Daily Dot wrote, "when placed in the middle of your FYP, [Fictional TikTok] can blend in with some of the other true (if slightly exaggerated) stories that people share every day." They added:

The fact that a lot of folks don’t realize their stories are fake and deeply relate to the narratives is a bit disconcerting. The TikToks can really trigger strong emotions from viewers who feel like they’ve come across someone who gets their experiences. It can be a jarring feeling to realize what you believed was a safe space is actually all an act.

FourFront founder Ilan Benjamin has insisted that it is not their intention to deceive anyone and the app would be open to collaborating with TikTok to find a way to make their videos more clearly fictional.^[3]

Search Interest

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External References