The Rise of Viral Aesthetics: a Complete Chronology of Online Popularity
By James H. Sterling
The modern explosion of the aesthetic owes its scale to TikTok’s sound-based architecture. Between 2021 and 2024, creators began marrying absurdist voice clips with Brazilian phonk and hyperpop beats. Short, deadpan phrases, including comedic declarations about "big booty femboys", became standard backing audio for disparate genres of content:
- Weightlifters documenting lower-body hip-thrust progress.
- Cosplayers modeling oversized knitwear and pleated tennis skirts.
- Video game streamers reacting to ironic fan submissions.
This repetition created an odd semantic drift. In a 2022 investigative analysis for The New York Times, reporter Melina Delkic highlighted how platform speech circumvents automated moderation. Users developed "algospeak" substitutes, such as "leg booty" or "seggs", to keep controversial terms from tripping shadowban filters. Because TikTok’s recommendation engine prioritizes high sound-reuse rates, millions of teenagers who had never encountered queer discussion boards suddenly encountered explicit subcultural slang repeated as background comedy on their daily feeds.
Irony served as camouflage. Straight male creators could deploy the audio under the guise of absurdity, while queer creators used the same sounds to broadcast genuine gender experimentation without inviting direct social backlash.
James Sterling reports on renewable energy developments, climate policy, ecological conservation, and green tech innovations around the globe.
