Raising a glass to TikTok’s creators of the year

From stop-start lockdowns, to getting back on the dancefloor, the Euros and everything in between, 2021 has been one hell of a year.

In the midst of it all, we’ve had our trusty phones to rely on for entertainment and light relief and arguably, they’ve turned into our most consistent companions.

Case in point: this year alone, over one billion people tuned into TikTok and its endless well of cat videos, food inspo, educational content, hilarious skits and, well, loads of other stuff that can’t always be neatly categorised. Move over, Spotify Wrapped. Today’s all about our Year on TikTok, as the platform celebrates its creators of the year.

And there’s plenty of homegrown UK talent on the list: viral producer PinkPantheress, musician and make-up artist Abby Roberts, Nottingham football fanatic Cal The Dragon and our favourite trainspotter Francis Bourgeois, to name a few. Meanwhile, activists like Shelby Lynch and Benjy Kusi are also given their moment in the spotlight, as they continue to champion vital disability and LGBTQ+ rights, by challenging popular misconceptions and reducing harmful stigmas.

From helping us learn about the important stuff to providing a space for memes and cultural trends to blow up, the app’s top creators have all enriched our lives in some way or another. Elevating them feels like an appropriate way to see in the new year and raise a glass to the last 12 months’ most memorable moments.

“There’s something really special about TikTok’s diverse global community that people just can’t find anywhere else,” says Vanessa Pappas, the platform’s COO. ​“For us, 2021 was a year for connection and we’ve seen people on TikTok laughing together, entertaining us, starting cultural phenomenons and teaching us new things.”

Ah, TikTok. What would we do without you?