“Feel ugly?” Gen Z is boosting their self-esteem by making fan cans…of themselves

People hit poses like their favorite celebrities in fan cams of themselves, under the caption “Feel ugly? Make an edit of yourself to boost your confidence.” The TikTok trend involves dramatic cuts and video effects applied to brief montages of creators’ TikTok footage synced to Rasheeda’s 2006 track “Got that Good.” The “Feel ugly?” TikTok trend emulates the form of fan edits that assemble shots of celebrities or characters for audiences to fawn over.

As the caption explains, the trend aims to boost creators’ confidence by elevating humble internet personas to diva status, but some takes on the trend were more parody than others. Either way, the internet responded with admiration usually reserved for the likes of Timothée Chalamet and other big stars. 

“Feel Ugly?”: TikTok creators are remixing their own moments into confidence boosters

@sophie_therookie_tok’s 12-second edit from April 27 recontextualized awkward shots of herself making funny faces, feeling feelings, and taking a frying pan to the camera cut to the swaggy music with amped up camera moves.

@_redb7ll replied, “NEW DIVA UNLOCKED.”

“Girl you don’t even need an edit,” said @tenaejj_, “You’re too cute!”

It’s social media so there were some haters in the comments, but @haleyybaylee fought back in the comments: 

“The haters don’t have anything else to do but talk about someone they don’t even know. It’s actually embarrassing. YOU SLAY.”

@sophie_therookie_tok #CapCut ♬ som original – helo

“Bro chill, my girl is on this app”

@adamslifestylexo’s fan cam edit from May 4 went viral with 10 million views. The post has 1 million likes along with comments from people concerned the TikToker’s alluring poses could lure their SO’s away.

“Bro my bf is on this app, he’s gonna choose this baddie over me,” commented @tori.thomason. 

“Bro chill, my girl is on this app,” said @1anthony95.

“Leave some girls for the rest of us,” commented @fellintoatrashcanjordan.

@adamslifestylexo #CapCut ♬ som original – helo

Some of these posts could be violating community guidelines

In response to @king.elonicholas’s fan cam, @wimzi1i1 echoed a popular reply to this TikTok trend, “No hate, but you should be more careful with what you post, pretty sure it’s against community guidelines to be that gorgeous.” 

Others were impressed with her “glow” and gassed her up in the comments. “Girl you are GLOWING,” said @venecia_stark.

@king.elonicholas #CapCut ♬ som original – helo

The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.