Who is behind Twitter user Libs of TikTok?
Most of the posts on this website are about a trend, a new filter, or a milestone connected with TikTok. This time around, I wanted to be as much as possible in the middle of a very intense media coverage from both sides involving Libs of TikTok.
After researching on a number of sites, it can be confirmed the owner of the Twitter account belongs to Chaya Raichik. In addition, she works in real estate and the debate over her content posting strategies has triggered a media storm around the type of content she posts.
She has chosen to repost or reuse posts from left-wing, LGBT, or liberal. When you read who it is targeted towards, it is for Democrats. In other words, it is very political and controversial.
To date, her account has amassed 905k followers. There is a history with the account and will use the following bullet points:
- The account was created in November 2020
- Once upon a time, the handle was @cuomomustgo
- The next name change was @houseplantpotus
- The account @libsoftiktok is born on April 2021
https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1516842023394938881
Rhetorical flaws and sensationalist spin on this
Where all the controversy starts out of control is because of an article published by Washington Post Columnist Taylor Lorenz. Her article basically sets the stage for a showdown between liberals and conservatives.
https://twitter.com/TaylorLorenz/status/1516577817651138566
When you look at the tone, exchange, and coverage, it is a campaign season in full swing. What is not a coincidence is the timing of it to start rallying folks from both sides to watch developments for the upcoming midterm elections in the fall.
The issue with this, as it is with everything else, it is a false dilemma. This means we are getting only two sides of a story. It is true, that the content from Libs of TikTok is very deliberate with what it wants to achieve. It seems the account had no success on TikTok or Instagram.
Then again, why would you choose Libs of TikTok? Unless you are using a contraction or abbreviation for the word libs as in liberals. Since TikTok is very popular right now, perhaps Meta, a.k.a. Facebook, may have something to do with it because it is running out of ideas to derail TikTok’s continual growth.
Takeaways
The sudden surge in followers, media coverage, and controversy is not at all surprising. This is how rising stars and influencers are born. In reality, they are heavily sponsored by their political stakeholders to get a conversation started.
With every piece of news content published on news organizations, search engines, and social media, things move very fast. This is not the last time you will hear of it and more to come soon.
