In April 2020, former WCHS student Andy Jiang’s TikTok career kicked off.  Jiang started TikTok when his friend, Jeff Yee, bet him that he could not get 1,000 followers in two weeks. He took on the challenge and gained 1,000 followers in six days by posting relatable content, as well as some comedy skits on his account, @andyyjiang. 

Jiang has around five million followers on TikTok and 30,000 followers on Instagram. His content consists of researching interesting and under-the-radar stories and sharing them with his viewers. The real question is, where is he now? 

Jiang goes to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where the heavy workload can make it hard to post as consistently as he used to. Posting can be a relaxing break for him. Having supportive friends and family helps motivate him to keep posting his content.

“It’s actually very surprising to me but a lot of other students here have actually recognized me and come up to ask me about TikTok,” Jiang said. “I actually have never told a single person here about it, but somehow everyone knows now. It’s always cool to talk to someone who’s watched my videos!” 

Jiang enjoys storytelling and sees TikTok as a hobby, regardless of the money he gets from this presence. With every influencer, there can be ups and downs when it comes to social media.

“My mom is literally my biggest fan, she hypes me up so much, especially when views aren’t that great. Both her and my dad have been nothing but supportive of me,” Jiang said.

Jiang’s content is not easy to produce. One video can take up to an hour of research, some extra time to record, edit, and then post. He finds his stories and information from his Reddit feed and The New York Times.  Having such a big following makes fact-checking extremely necessary so that he is able to  put out accurate information.

“I usually begin by searching for an interesting story or concept online, and then I incorporate that into a video of my style,” Jiang said to former Editor-in-Chief Andrew Chan in October 2020. “It can be a lot of work sometimes, but most of that time I’m having fun so it really doesn’t feel that long.”

Lots of big TikTokers get paid tons of money, and live in mansions in LA. Jiang gets paid through TikTok’s creator program as well as the occasional sponsored video/brand collaboration. 

“The money is definitely nice, but I think what really motivates me to post is how amazing it is to be able to share stories with so many people,” Jiang said.