Kawaii and coquette are breaking the code of corporate internet

The Cult of Cute Content - The Digital Fairy.pdf

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*:･ﾟ✧ ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ &nbsp;In the past few years, the internet has gotten a lot cuter. Kawaii, the Japanese culture of cuteness, is a major influence across social-driven trends, and coquette, another aesthetic in the cute family tree, has established itself as one of the biggest trends of the year with over 10B views on TikTok — a reach that even rivals that of cottagecore, TikTok’s first and most famous aesthetic movement.&nbsp;In our latest mini report, we track the power of&nbsp;cute&nbsp;in today’s digital sphere — from its origins in millennials sharing cat pics to its potential to disrupt the Big Tech agenda. Download to get the full scoop! ˶ ა*:･ﾟ✧

For more content like this, explore the rest of the Digiverse, or connect with us on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thedigifairy?lang=en">TikTok</a> or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/thedigifairy/?hl=en">Instagram</a>. If you’re a brand or business and want to inspire your audience in innovative ways, reach out to our strategic &amp; creative lab&nbsp;<a href="mailto:eve@thedigitalfairy.co.uk?subject=Interested in hearing more about your services :) ">eve@thedigitalfairy.co.uk</a>.

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The cult of cute content

Creator Class of 2024 (Final_Corrected).pdf

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It’s no secret that creators are no longer just aestheticised ambassadors for aspirational lifestyles (and the products that you can buy to try and get it for yourself) and that content creation has exploded into countless categories. The influencer label has given way to a multiplicity of pathways that have pushed the boundaries of the creator landscape — from Meaning Makers and Moguls to New Traditionals and Entertainers. But what exactly defines this new cohort of creators and how have they changed how we consume, think, and move through the world?Inside this report we explore the 8 creator archetypes changing the game, the themes and motivations that unite them, and predictions of how they’ll evolve.&nbsp;

For more content like this, explore the rest of the Digiverse, or connect with us on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thedigifairy?lang=en">TikTok</a> or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/thedigifairy/?hl=en">Instagram</a>. If you’re a brand or business and want to inspire your audience in innovative ways, reach out to our strategic &amp; creative lab effy@thedigitalfairy.co.uk.

Creator Class of 2024

The forefront and future of hair — from self-expression and social-driven trends to new inclusivity narratives 

Cutting Edge - The Digital Fairy.pdf

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From the dominance of TikTok trends to a new gen of inclusive products, brands, and creators, the hair industry and cultural attitudes towards hair seem to be getting a new ‘do. But how did we get here and what’s hair’s next look? And is a wolf cut just a shag for teenagers on TikTok? We spoke to 10 leading industry voices — from brand founders and beauty editors to salon owners and hair historians, plus our Digi experts, to find out.&nbsp;

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Cutting Edge

The Future of Digital Creativity by The Digital Fairy for D&AD.pdf

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The Future of Digital Creativity 

A more optimistic outlook on technology is materializing with innovations in wearables for women’s health and mental health, but anxieties loom

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Earlier this year, a pair of headphones caught the attention of the internet. They weren’t of the wired variety, or the trendy Apple AirPods Max headphones that became an accessory in their own right after launching in December 2020. Rather, the headphones looked more like Batman supervillain Bane’s face mask, or a futuristic respirator worn in a post-apocalyptic environment. Called the Dyson Zone, they’re positioned as the brand’s “first wearable purifier, capturing city pollution [...] and cancelling unwanted noise, with “advanced noise cancellation and pure, high-fidelity audio.” After watching the Zone in action against the wildfire smog that coated New York City in June, one commenter responded, “The way my heart dropped when I realized this wasn’t a visual from an apocalypse game.”But innovation in wearable technology isn’t all the stuff of technocratic nightmare. Tech optimism is materializing in stride with innovations in wearables — especially in the spaces of women’s health, well-being, and mental health — from devices that alleviate period pain to those that help track your mood.

While women’s health is still under-researched and under-funded, a new generation of wearable FemTech has emerged with a focus on exactly that.&nbsp;Myoovi Period Pain Relief Device delivers electrical impulses to cut off period-related pain when adhered to the lower back or abdomen. The wearable device utilizes TENS technology commonly used during childbirth, via what Digi Design Strategist Deanna Middleton calls a “millennial-ized” package — the Myoovi website is all the neutrals and rounded edges of the typical millennial DTC brand. Based on the shopping experience, you could be on the hunt for some FemTech,&nbsp;or an Instagrammable skillet,&nbsp;or a cream to help with acne without a trip to the doctor’s. Meanwhile, the popular Oura smart ring is now compatible with a fertility tracking app and is being used as a more convenient way to track fertility without daily Basal temperature checking.&nbsp;

Women’s health

There are also exciting women’s health wearables that are still in development or in early stages. MIT researchers have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.designboom.com/technology/mit-wearable-ultrasound-scanner-detect-breast-cancer-tumor-early-stages-08-01-2023/">developed</a> “a wearable ultrasound device that could allow people to detect breast cancer and tumors when they are still in their early stages.” And a London-based designer has created a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dezeen.com/2023/08/15/aphra-hallam-zera-cooling-crescent-wearable-menopause/">wearable cooling device</a> to alleviate the hot flash symptoms of menopause, while researchers at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/wearable-patch-wirelessly-monitors-estrogen-in-sweat">CalTech</a> have developed a wearable patch that monitors estrogen levels in sweat, in hopes that women can one day track their hormones at home and in real time.&nbsp;Beyond hardware that specifically targets issues connected to biology, there are innovations that tap into more nebulous trends in the women’s health landscape. Digestive health has become a priority for many women and TikTok is now obsessed with “healing your gut.” While the app’s gut health advice and trends have been criticized by qualified experts, Northwestern University researchers have developed miniaturized wearable devices that can monitor gut and digestive health through sound.

As with women’s health, mental health research is under-funded and the market of wearable tech aimed at mental well-being has grown in recent years. The Apollo Neuro is a “touch therapy band” that delivers gentle, soothing vibrations to reduce stress. You can select different “vibes” to help you relax or boost your mood and energy.&nbsp;

Mental health and well-being

Wearable devices are also increasingly being used to track mood and mental health through tracking heart rate and perspiration —&nbsp;Happy Ring tracks biometrics with powerful sensors to sense stress levels, while Upmood is a wearable that “senses your body’s signals and bio-patterns to enhance emotional awareness.” With these insights, Upmood says, users can use interventions and change their environment to impact their well-being — i.e., realizing what triggers them and taking action. Mainstream and mass-market wearables have even taken a page out of this book. The Fitbit Sense 2 notifies you when there’s been a spike in vitals and asks you to input your mood at different points in the day.

Simpler well-being wearables are also trending — Meghan Markle was spotted wearing a wellness patch from NuCalm, a brand that sells biosignal processing disks to accompany its patented software. The patch emits a frequency that allows GABA to enter receptors and counteract adrenaline, producing a feeling of calm.

However, there's still something a little apocalyptic about the new gen of wearable tech. Happy Ring claims to power “the next generation of personalized healthcare” — a mission that can only be truly understood against the context of widespread failing and underfunded healthcare systems. There’s often a deeper message here — health is still available, just to those who can afford the latest ergonomic ring or wristband. It can all feel a little Bryan Johnson-lite, further entrenching the idea that personal responsibility is the end-all-be-all when it comes to physical and mental well-being. You can’t change the declining conditions of contemporary life that are making us feel bad physically and mentally (well, maybe you can if you’re a billionaire with the means to make systemic change), but you can make sure they don’t affect you and yours.&nbsp;

Wealth is health

And on the everyday level, it’s easy to get caught up in tracking your biodata, especially when it’s accessible 24/7 through an app on your phone. Think the compulsion to check your steps and make sure you’re hitting your 10k a day, but applied to every aspect of your brain and body. It’s easy to see how always-on health tracking can become obsessive, especially when a “science-backed” claim is in the mix to justify these behaviors.Ultimately, the optimism around wearable technology as a means of personalized healthcare will only continue to grow if it can work in conjunction with existing healthcare systems and for the many, not in spite of them and for the few.

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Wearables are keeping tech optimism alive

The Digital Fairy - Age Against the Machine Report.pdf

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Inside this mini report, we examine aging anxieties in the age of AI, the economics of good skin, and how Gen Z really feel about the “anti” mindset.

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Age Against the Machine

How the internet got so hungry for food culture

Online Appetite - The Digital Fairy.pdf

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Inside this mini report, we explore the internet and pop culture’s raging appetite for food and bev, the importance of food in community and connection, and what’s next on the menu.

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Online Appetite

From a snail slime problem to dodgy ads, TikTok’s e-commerce product is complicated 

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In mid September, TikTok launched TikTok Shop, its e-commerce product, in the US. A little over a month later, TikTok Shop was banned in Indonesia, its first and largest market. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e5f839d2-1fd3-45b7-b9e4-aeda22c19d01">Financial Times</a>&nbsp;reports that given its huge success, Indonesia was widely considered a potential blueprint for its ambitions in other markets, including the UK and US. Given these tensions, it’s clear that TikTok Shop is at a pivotal juncture when it comes to ambitious goals to become “<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/488382b8-0a19-4b5a-aa16-2cf1e5869b1c">Amazon for Gen Z</a>.”The US has proven to be a difficult market to capture when it comes to e-commerce on social platforms — Instagram drastically scaled back shopping features in 2022, following parent company Meta’s first revenue decline in history. Yet TikTok Shop seems to be catching on in the US, at least in part. Tech writer Kat Tenbarge&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/tiktok-shop-teens-high-school-open-how-to-make-money-long-deliver-us-rcna102788">reports</a> that teens are bringing in millions of views using the new feature, despite the fact that TikTok forbids minors from applying to the program.

This is an evolution of teens and twenty-somethings using TikTok to market and grow their brands. Brands like Stocked and 202st, led by young entrepreneurs, have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/705a18d2-9c1d-4237-af2d-ab01c8c76fa4">leveraged organic attention</a> on TikTok to drive traffic to IRL pop-ups. And influencer Matilda Djerf has grown her fashion brand Djerf Avenue into a $22m business, in part based on the popularity of the brand’s clothing on TikTok.

Now, teen and adult users alike are taking advantage of the TikTok shop apparatus to make cash, and by doing so, they’ve changed the&nbsp;vibe of the app as a whole. The For You Page is now filled with videos advertising products sold on TikTok Shop — many of which don’t even show the product. Think shaky videos of an ambiguous background referencing how good a pair of pajamas look on, without a hint of that pair of pajamas, or any pants at all, in sight. These videos are low lift for creators, allowing them to make commission from advertising products they might not even own themselves.They also act as a new kind of clickbait — with suggestive claims that motivate viewers to click the product link to see if the product lives up to the hype. This turn towards high-speed, low-effort marketing is a departure from audience’s recent preference for well-thought-out promotion — creators like Bella Poarch have been celebrated for their high-production approach to ads, while others adopt a humorous, self-aware style when creating sponsored content. Yet TikTok Shop ads eschew quality and effort for quantity and speed. “TikTok Shop has emerged as a new concept altogether — not fast-fashion production, but fast-advertising production,” writes Tenbarge. “It’s a no-holds-barred approach to affiliate marketing, a type of influencer brand marketing popularized by early-to-mid 2000s bloggers.”&nbsp;Exhaustion with TikTok Shop is already apparent on the app, with creators sharing tips on how to block and filter ads promoting products. “Creators have been pushing products with varying degrees of obnoxiousness on us for years in social media videos,” writes Wes Davis for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/12/23869741/tiktok-shop-available-us-marketplace-e-commerce-amazon">The Verge</a>, “and one wonders if cutting out the extra steps could supercharge that.” Some have gone so far as to suggest that the shopping apparatus will be the downfall of TikTok as a whole.

Frustration with incessant advertising goes hand-in-hand with a concern about the kind of products sold on TikTok Shop — which range from cleap plastic items to potentially counterfeit&nbsp; products listed at steeply discounted prices. Thousands of bottles of questionable skincare claiming to be a viral COSRX snail mucin serum have sold for as little as $5. TikTok has ambitions for its Shop to become Amazon for Gen Z, but its current model has been compared more frequently to Temu or AliExpress, the Chinese online marketplaces known for their vast selections of cheap products. Though established brands like Beauty Bay have their own in-app shops, marked by a verified badge, TikTok Shop has ground to cover if it wants to be associated with reliability across categories.

Yet many tactics in place succeed in appealing to younger audiences — TikTok positions British beauty brand Made by Mitchell as a&nbsp;<a href="https://shop.tiktok.com/business/en/newsroom/detail/10016589">case study</a> in TikTok Shop growth and success. Made by Mitchell uses methods like mystery bags, where the buyer receives an unspecified assortment of products, an approach typically used by by brands that target younger cohorts like cartoon-centred Tokidoki.&nbsp;

TikTok Shop also stands at odds with growing imperatives to reduce influencer-driven consumption, exemplified by the de-influencing movement that took off earlier this year on TikTok in which creators encouraged viewers to skip buying viral products. TikTok Shop seeks to streamline the viral product-to-purchase pipeline by making it easier than ever to order, say, that bottle of snail mucin serum you’ve seen on your FYP — a wholesale rejection of de-influencers debunking the “need-to-have-it” urge associated with viral products.

However, the model of TikTok Shop seems to be a perfect match for another consumer trend led by TikTok — the rise of dupes, a term that refers to alternatives to an expensive, and typically viral, product. As Amy Francombe&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thedigitalfairy.co.uk/digiverse/dupemindset">wrote for the&nbsp;Digiverse</a>, “‘dupe queens’ … have emerged as one of the most popular influencer archetypes of the moment,” discussing “expensive hair and skin products that ‘aren’t worth it’... then recommend[ing[ cheaper alternatives.” Against a landscape populated by dupes that range from similar products to straight-up knockoffs, it’s easy to understand why those COSRX serum dupes have evolved into what&nbsp;Wired calls a full-on “snail slime problem” on TikTok.

It’s possible that TikTok can simply lean into its existing virality cycle and and in-app dupe machine to grow the popularity of the shopping feature — but that won’t make it the Amazon of Gen Z (though Amazon itself is a go-to for dupes). The app will need to crack down on shaky ads and suspicious products, and reconcile with the effects of movements to de-escalate consumption, to reach true bop status.

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TikTok Shop: Flop or bop?

“There is a reason this video has landed on your page today.”

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Let me set the scene: it’s a random Thursday afternoon, let’s say 4pm. You open TikTok and scroll your FYP to pass some time. After twenty tutorials, outfit checks, and shocking storytime videos, one video catches your attention. You see someone looking directly at you with crystals in their hands. The sound and the feel are reminiscent of ASMR — you feel instantly relaxed. Their eyes almost gleam with hope and usually, they’re sitting in front of a calm nature setup or cosy room, awash with candlelight and decorated with a tapestry on the wall. The narrator usually says something like, “There is a reason this video has landed on your page today,” or “You need this crystal in order to heal” in a very determined voice.&nbsp;This type of content is pretty much the opposite of viral lip-sync challenges, dances or filters. When you ask Google what you need to do in order to make your videos go viral, it advises you to use popular sounds. Barely any spiritual creator used Charli XCX’s “Speed Drive,” or “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish. Yet, creators in this field cultivate loyal and large audiences — why?

#SpiritualTikTok or #CrystalTikTok is the more crystallised, pun intended, sister of the more nebulous #WitchTok, mostly dominated by influencer-adjacent figures like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@roxanakarissa">Roxana Karissa</a>, who shares manifestation videos to help you become a millionaire, or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@vanessaandheriphone">Vanessa the Wonder Worker</a> who tells you which crystal to address different life situations. They’re focused on giving you your daily dose of spirituality, reading your future with their tarot decks and telling you which crystals&nbsp;you need. They’re also ready to capitalise on your deepest fears and desperations.Depression? Rub the clear quartz. Heartbreak and loss of energy? A rose quartz necklace and bracelet will make you the happiest human alive, open to love like never before. Seriously ill? There's nothing the black quartz can’t fix. Directionless in your life or career? Book a tarot reading, for only $100. In the summer of 2021, Lorde sang, “I can’t feel a thing, I keep looking at my mood ring” — now, we still can’t feel a thing, but have a collection of various crystals, tarot decks and cleansing incense in our homes. There are plenty of TikTokers in this niche, for example,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@gabbysrockshop">Manifest with Gabby</a>, who not only shares crystal healing tips, but is also a self-proclaimed Wealth Expansion Coach.

Mysticism and spiritual gear have been increasingly popular since the early 2010s, fuelled by millennials’ desire to reject traditional forms of religion. Yet, the nature of the seller has changed — in the 2010s, esotericism was nowhere near as big as it is now, and what brands and people capitalised on was the aesthetic, not the meaning. For example, Urban Outfitters sold crystal necklaces because they looked cool, not for a “healing effect.” Now, millennial (and increasingly, Gen Z) mysticism has codified into a kind of alternative, solutions-oriented religion. If you buy a crystal, it has to be of use, it has to bring you something, i.e., erase your anxiety or heal your attachment style.&nbsp;

We’re now yearning for solutions and salves that neither technology nor capitalism can deliver, an attitude that gained traction in times of uncertainty, post-pandemic and mid-cost-of-living crisis.

In a 2021&nbsp;<a href="https://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-millennials-religion-zodiac-tarot-crystals-astrology-20190710-story.html">article from the&nbsp;LA Times</a> written by Jessica Roy, the astrologer Chani Nicholas claims that young people have grown up under immense pressures from (climate change, recession, crumbling political systems) and they have a lingering feeling that the system hasn’t benefited them. So, they turn to alternative methods of spirituality. In the article, the astrologist describes the rising popularity of crystals as a physical symbol of rejecting a broken system, and a yearning for something more. All of this isn’t new — but we’re now yearning for solutions and salves that neither technology nor capitalism can deliver, an attitude that gained traction in times of uncertainty, post-pandemic and mid-cost-of-living crisis.“There is no harm in making a viewer feel better,” says the stylist Naomi Madigan, who considers herself spiritual and a believer in crystals and tarot cards. “But you have to bear in mind that the viewer has to be mentally in the right place, since they can be very literal. People can get invested and end up paying money for something that is not legit,” she continues. Of course, the power of the chakra, the body’s energy field crystals are said to positively interact with, or the meaning of the crystals is in the eye of the beholder —&nbsp;<a href="https://time.com/4969680/do-crystals-work/">a study in 2001</a> confirmed this.

In the summer of 2021, Lorde sang, “I can’t feel a thing, I keep looking at my mood ring” — now, we still can’t feel a thing, but have a collection of various crystals, tarot decks and cleansing incense in our homes.

In July, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLhs96WMu84">German YouTuber Marvin did an experiment</a>. He targeted German esoteric TikTokers and influencers and sent them crystals as a prank, to see if they would promote them. He prepared a kit filled with a few stones and a personal note. And the influencers fell for it. One such influencer, Tanja Makarić, promoted the crystals, claiming that they could “heal depression,” She received huge backlash and later apologized for her statement.&nbsp;

“Promising that a crystal can heal depression is a serious and incorrect statement”, says Maya AIZaben, journalist and astrologist. “I think there used to be a trend during the pandemic when everybody had no choice but to go within themselves, since we couldn’t go out. It seems to have died down since the world has opened back up and everybody is back in their normal lives,” she says. Even post-pandemic, we’re all still time poor and burnt out, so we expect a tool like a crystal to work like a painkiller. If we engage with it, our problems will be solved.Yet still, when some people feel the crystals touching their palms, they feel vibrations. Like little lightning bolts zipping through their veins, they confuse magic with the placebo effect. In an interview with&nbsp;<a href="https://time.com/4969680/do-crystals-work/">Time</a> on spirituality and the placebo effect, Christopher French, a professor at Goldsmiths University, said: “If people believe that a treatment will make them feel better, many of them do feel better after they have had the treatment, even if it’s unknown to be therapeutically worthless,” he says. The placebo effect usually affects small illnesses like a headache — capitalising on the outcome of the placebo effect when it comes to serious illnesses is not only morally wrong, it can also be dangerous. Crystals won’t heal you through the screen, but promising this to someone who is desperate to get healthy, could make them stop treatment that actually heals them.&nbsp;

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The energy only works when the money flows — welcome to #SpiritualTikTok

<h4>Welcome to the Digiverse, your portal to internet enlightenment.</h4>From IRL to URL, digest the best of algorithm-driven culture – news, trends and insights – powered by The Digital Fairy.

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Creators are making content that speaks straight to the longings of the heart, from the sacred to the achingly mundane 

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Yearnposting is a new kind of wellness

<h4>Welcome to the Digiverse, your portal to internet enlightenment.</h4>From IRL to URL, digest the best of algorithm-driven culture – news, trends and insights – powered by The Digital Fairy. &nbsp;

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Digiverse

The cult of cute content

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Creator Class of 2024

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Creator Class of 2024

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Cutting Edge

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Cutting Edge

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The Future of Digital Creativity

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The Future of Digital Creativity

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Wearables are keeping tech optimism alive

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Wearables are keeping tech optimism alive

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Age Against the Machine

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Age Against the Machine

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Online Appetite

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Online Appetite

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TikTok Shop: Flop or bop?

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TikTok Shop: Flop or bop?

Opinion

The energy only works when the money flows — welcome to #SpiritualTikTok

Opinion

The energy only works when the money flows — welcome to #SpiritualTikTok

Welcome to the Digiverse, your portal to internet enlightenment.