Emily Sandy

Junior Isabel Jensen and her grandfather watch a music video together for a TikTok. Jensen said she thinks her videos went viral because they involve interacting with other people, which is a heartwarming experience.

What are your goals with TikTok?

The goal is to make other people happy, but the main priority is just because I like to do it. So I just make the videos that I like to make. It makes me happy. And if what makes me happy just coincidentally makes other people happy, then that’s a plus. But (I’ve) got to make videos that I want to make that I like and what I think is funny. And so if someone else doesn’t think that it’s funny, then maybe we don’t share the same sense of humor or whatever, but I’m not going to try to make videos for other people.

What makes a successful TikTok?

Something that people can kind of relate to but is also funny. It’s something that makes people smile. I feel like a lot of people relate to my grandpa because—we scroll through the comments—and a lot of them are like, “My grandparents have passed away” or, “I wish that I could spend more time with my grandparents like that,” and so it is something that we do together now. We make videos together, and it’s a fun time and we connect over it. I think that that’s something that people can relate to. It’s like spending time with their family.

How has being TikTok famous impacted you?

My friends make fun of me. Well they posted the ad and they played it in Regal (Theatres), in AMC (Theatres). They played it on ESPN and Hulu. It’s broadcast across the United States. So it’s been really weird because random family members call me up now saying that they saw Uncle Denny (because my grandpa’s name is Denny). Whenever I mention it to people, even if I say something about it in class, a lot of people have seen the ad. So in my theater class, they were talking about it because it’s like, “Oh yeah,” like that’s a fun thing that happened. And people were like “That video? I’ve seen that video. That’s yours? That’s crazy!” And now two guys in my theater class call me TikTok like it’s my name.

How will TikTok fame impact you in the long run?

I feel like it’ll be a really good tool for college because all of my videos are clean and appropriate. There is not a single cuss word in any of my videos. My parents have always said, “Don’t put anything that you don’t want everyone seeing,” and both my parents have TikTok to watch all the videos. My family has TikTok and (they) watch all the videos I make. I want them to see it. I think that it will be a good thing that college can see that even though I have followers that I can still keep a good image.

Why do you think your videos went viral?

I think that the reason that they went super viral is really just interacting with other people. And I think that that’s what people are kind of looking for, is that they’re like on that app to interact with people online. But it’s like, you interact with people through watching their videos. But that’s kind of like, well, I’m not talking to anyone in real life right now. So I’m gonna go on TikTok and watch some funny videos. It’s kind of heartwarming to see people interacting with others and like the world’s not a whole bad place.

How did they tell you about being in the ad?

(TikTok) messaged me in (the) app, and they were like, “You’ve been selected to work in a promotion.” I got emailed by a lady from TikTok marketing about being in (the ad), and they signed releases and stuff saying that they could (use my video) because it was the video of my grandfather reacting that we (had) to sign a release from my parents to use—(for) my grandpa to use his face (and) for me to use my voice.

Why do you think they chose your video to feature in the ad?

People really like the video of my grandpa because it’s not like a bunch of the other videos that are on the app currently. Because it’s just people being nice.

And that’s uncommon. He was eating a tiny kiwi because he had never tried it before, so he didn’t really know what it was. He was like, “Oh what is that?” and I was like, “It’s a tiny kiwi, wanna try it?”

Did you post videos with the intent of getting views?

No, I thought that it would be really fun because I’ve always liked speaking in front of people, but I don’t like people that much. I like people, but online, it’s different. Instagram is really cut-and-dry. It has to be a perfect picture of a really good moment to post on Instagram. And I was like, “Oh, I (can) make stupid videos of myself on TikTok.”

Click here to visit Jensen’s TikTok page.