The growing prevalence of tipping culture has proven a popular subject on TikTok. Users are posting satirical skits wherein people are encouraged to leave a tip after asking for help locating an item in a store or petting a stranger’s dog.
@mollyshen Tipping culture is getting outta control 🤡 #dogsoftiktok #shiba #shibainu #tipping #tippingculture #pettingyourdog #funny #humor #funnymoments #meme
♬ Obituary – Alexandre Desplat
But it’s not just parody; giving your two cents on tipping culture seems to be a straight-shot to online virality. No surprise, then, that a small army of TikTok users have taken to the platform to rant about a tipping culture that they feel has gone wild, nor that customer service professionals are posting videos encouraging people to tip more generously.
On TikTok, tipping is hot-button
Accounts like Subway Takes specialize in scathing critiques of tipping culture. One of its most popular videos, which proclaims that “if I have to go up to order, I’m not tipping,” has racked up 17.9 million views. Another viral tirade, from user @xo.jessyy, says it’s “not my fault that you don’t get paid enough.”
Service workers have created their own TikTok genre in response, making a case for tipping. Server @natalinahughbanks tells viewers that “If you can’t afford to tip your server, you shouldn’t be going out to eat.” Another server, @kielekassidy, went viral for calling out customers’ low tips.
@kielekassidy I am genuinely grateful for anything though! Im not saying it is expected, but I know the service i give is worth it! #tips#bartending#serving#servertok#tipservers#restaurantlife#CapCut#servertiktok
♬ BIRDS OF A FEATHER – Billie Eilish
Outside of these first-person narratives, there’s also a depth of skits commenting on the prevalence of tips. These skits can take both sides of the debate. Drew Talbert created a video humorously explaining how servers live off of tips. That clip is now at 1.9 million views.
And then there are the offshoots. There are TikToks on everything from tipping “tricks,” like leaving dollars on the table and taking bills away each time a server makes a mistake; to the joys of bringing the tipping iPad to other venues, like a friend’s house.
The mechanisms of engagement
Engagement is the key to TikTok virality. Not only do creators need their content to be viewed; they need it to be liked, commented on, and shared with friends. This creates wide “discourse” bubbles on the platform; the hot topic sparks engagement, which pushes it to more viewers, which inevitably leads to more filmed content. A controversial debate begets its own virality.
This is what happened with tipping culture. What was once a conversation to be debated at dinner parties and be pondered in think pieces has grown into a social phenomenon. The comment sections are filled with fury.
Login to add comment
Other posts in this group
The first 27 satellites for Amazon’s Kuiper broadband internet constellation were launched into space from Florid
There are so many ways to die. You could fall off a cliff. A monk could light you on fire. A bat the size of a yacht could kick your head in. You’ve only just begun the game, and yet here you are,
Former Tinder CEO Renate Nyborg launched Meeno less than two years ago with the intention of it being an AI chatbot that help
The most indelible image from Donald Trump’s inauguration in January is not the image of the president taking the oath of office without his hand on the Bible. It is not the image of the First Lad
Ernest Hemingway had an influential theory about fiction that might explain a lot about a p
The first 100 days of Trump’s second presidential term have included a surprising player that doesn’t seem likely to go away anytime soon: Signal.
The encrypted messaging pl
Cancer research in the U.S. doesn’t rely on a single institution or funding stream—it’s a complex ecosystem made up of interdependent parts: academia, pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology start
