TikTok and Instagram are the biggest social media platforms, both with over one billion users. Both sites have allowed countless users’ voices to be heard. It’s allowed artists to break out, books become popularized, and a lot of people to be influenced. Social Media ‘Influencers’ and people who have a large following who may review products, share their views on popular topics, or create funny videos. Some of the people are incredibly talented, and TikTok has allowed them to pursue careers and make money.  

     TikTok trends tend to start with one influencer that has a very large following, or a community of many influencers coming together and filming videos on a similar topic.  An example of this would be the Stanley water bottles. The Stanley Cup trend started on #watertok, which is a community made up of both teenagers and young adults. The videos contain someone pouring water into their cup and adding flavor packets. This trend was created to help people reach their water intake goal. 

     This is not the first time a water bottle has gone viral. Back in 2019 when the ‘vsco girl’ trend emerged, thousands of people were selling out of hydroflasks. After that, the YETI Cup went viral.

    Time and Time again, a new ‘it’ cup goes viral. Every water bottle does the same thing, but TikTok will find a way to make one more popular than the other. More often than not, a water bottle goes viral for its looks, not its use. 

   The water bottle trends are usually not harmful, but they help people hydrate themselves and eliminate plastic use. Overall, this trend is not harmful. It seems to have brought people together.