by Malec Fahmy ‘20

TikTok, as many Sherwood students know, is one of the most popular social media platforms around today. The app is a video-sharing network that allows its users to create short videos (15 to 60 seconds) that can include dancing, lip syncing, and comedic acts. It just so happens that junior Katie Feeney is one of TikTok’s most followed users, currently holding over 1.8 million followers and still growing.

Sherwood’s most well-known TikTok star began to make videos years ago when the app was originally called Musical.ly. Although she gained a lot of followers during her stint with Musical.ly, Feeney practically stopped altogether. Then, when Musical.ly rebranded as TikTok in December of 2018, Feeney decided that she would give it another try.
Feeney believes that having a strong background in dancing has been very beneficial to her growth, “My first viral videos were all dance-related,” said Feeney. Those viral videos, as Feeney noted, have led her to where she is today.

As she has continued to build her success on those videos and dance background, Feeney began to receive inquiries about different brand deals. When she restarted with TikTok, Feeney sought out such opportunities.

“I have been lucky to work with companies like Pizza Hut, Ivory Ella, Becca Cosmetics, Daily Harvest, and more,” said Feeney. “I have received lots of cool opportunities, but probably the best thing is designing my own hoodie for Ivory Ella.”

Along with her stardom on TikTok comes her popularity at school. She is well-known for being a part of the pom team, track team, and Rock ‘n’ Roll, as well as for her TikToks. It is not just students that know her too, as teachers often times know about her popularity. Although students typically do not treat her any differently due to her success, Feeney does sometimes find it embarrassing when teachers know about it as well.

While being well known from the app has had many upsides, it has also come with a lot of responsibility. Feeney must juggle her school work, maintain her grades, be fully involved in her athletics, as well as keep up with her TikTok, which consumes about an hour of her day on average. As her following has continued to grow, Feeney has begun to realize that TikTok is something that could be more than just a entertaining hobby, but something that could help her a lot in the future.

“I started realizing that TikTok could help pay for college around June when I attended VidCon in California.” Feeney said. Starting in Southern California in 2010, VidCon is a multi-genre online video tech conference for social media influencers. As she continues on her upwards trend among TikTok, Feeney has no aspirations in stopping, planning to continue making videos so long as TikTok is still around.