Lip filler, people who aren’t cat people, the societal expectation for women to shave their legs, working a 9-to-5 job. On TikTok, users have recently begun lining up their dislikes and branding them with an eye-catching term: propaganda.
In thousands of videos, many of which are set to a snippet of Charli XCX’s “I think about it all the time featuring bon iver,” users present a list of things they have deemed “propaganda I’m not falling for.” With the context of only a few words of text on a screen, the topics span across genres, with common examples including milk (both plant-based and from cows), Labubus, artificial intelligence, politics, run clubs and the male loneliness epidemic.
Delaney Denton, 22, said when she first saw one of the videos she thought it was “kind of iconic” and was inspired to make her own, which now has nearly a million views.
“I think it’s putting a spin on things that just feel a little off in our society but aren’t necessarily propaganda,” Ms. Denton said of the trend.
The concept isn’t exactly new. Social media aficionados will probably remember the “in” and “out” lists that were an inescapable start to 2024. And people are often looking for new ways to classify their opinions, as is the case with the recent rise of “coded” language online.
It’s unclear exactly where the propaganda trend began, with several users each referencing a different post that inspired them to make their own. But multiple creators said they saw the trend as a way to highlight views they hold that may deviate from societal norms.
Michael Zimpfer, 21, said he tried to pick a topic he thought people would agree with. He took aim at the 40-hour workweek, with separate entries on his list for “a 9-5 job,” “40 years of working,” and “2 weeks pto.” He said he then watched as “generational battles” over work culture unfolded in the comments of his video.
Maya Brooks, 22, whose list included organized religion and “modesty & rise of conservatism” said she received the most responses to a line she included about women feeling pressure to shave their legs.
“I’ve had videos go this viral before, but it was really interesting to see so much discourse about leg-shaving,” Ms. Brooks said. After reading angry comments, she decided to make two follow-up videos addressing the topic.
Despite the pushback, she said, she enjoyed creating a space for people to discuss expectations of women.
Ms. Brooks’s video was one of many that opened a door to discussions related to women’s health and beauty standards. Another was Moriah Ruedenberg’s; her list included fat shaming, lip filler and trad wives.
“I think that it feels good to help women put words to the ways that they’re feeling,” Ms. Ruedenberg, 20, said of the outsize reaction to her video. “I wished that I had had somebody to help me with that when I was a little bit younger.”
Many lists also had another common inclusion: the singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams.
For Mr. Zimpfer, whose reference to Ms. Abrams was the only nonwork-related term on his list, it was meant to spark interest in his video — and not necessarily a reflection of disdain for the artist.
“I spelled her name wrong — I was just being silly and funny with that aspect,” he said. “I was like, ‘Oh, I can put this in middle of the list and it’ll kind of stand out like a sore thumb.’”
Ms. Denton, 22, who also put the singer on her list, said she did so to signal to others that she was on the same page as many others making the lists.
“I think sometimes the internet just likes to have a running gag,” she said.
Nicole Stock is a Times editor reporting on personal health.
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