💰 Da CringeTok: Wea Being Insufferable Can Be Da 💰

In Da CringeTok world, creators stay stay on top by impersonating da mo’ terrible kine people and cashing in on big brand deals. 😳

During one three-part special wen “Dr. Phil” talked about Jeffrey Dahmer, da notorious serial killa, dey wen show one TikTok video from one 27-year-old wahine named Stanzi Potenza. Da video wen show Ms. Potenza saying how she wen stay stay so obsessed wit Netflix’s “Monster: Da Jeffrey Dahmer Story” dat she wen stay home from work, wearing diapers and all, fo’ watch da whole ting. 😱

But, get dis, Dr. Phil wen misunderstand and tink she was fo’ real!

Turns out, Ms. Potenza stay one cringe comic and actor who like call herself “one sketch comedian from hell.” She wen rack up millions of followers on TikTok and YouTube by posting videos where she pretends fo’ mansplain everyting, does sarcastic impersonations of Satan, and dry jokes about “Da Purge” movie. 😈

“Me, personally, I tink da best comedy stay little bit painful,” she wen say. “It hurt, but it hurt in one good way, yeah?” 😂

Now, da concept of “cringe” no easy fo’ pin down. Da cringe world stay big, covering all kine stuffs from old-fashioned customs to da way musicians try fo’ connect wit deir fans. But when you see cringe, you know um. And on TikTok, you can actually make one whole career outta being intentionally cringeworthy in dis special section dey call CringeTok (I know dis ’cause my braddah used to be one lawyer, but now he stay making money by doing cringe videos since spring 2020). 🤑

Ms. Potenza, she wen go study da arts and even do one six-week acting program at William Esper Studio in New York. So, wen she face da camera, she feel right at home. She wen start posting cringe comedy videos wen da pandemic wen hit, ’cause all da places she could do her art stay shut down. Her first TikTok video where she crying and putting on clown makeup wen go viral, getting hundreds of thousands of views, so she wen know she stay on to something good. 🎭

Now, she stay steady growing her TikTok following, ova 3.8 million strong! And guess what? All dose followers stay equal money fo’ her. She wen say she making ova $200,000 every year just from her videos! 💸

So, how da heck you make one CringeTok video, anyway?

On TikTok, you can make cash from all kine things, like doing makeup, selling watches, even just being old! But CringeTok, dat stay all about putting on one show.

Da secret to making one perfect CringeTok video stay digging deep inside da internet and your own life fo’ find traits you can blow up big time. You gotta find dem behaviors dat make people cringe, like being full of yourself and clueless, and den add one ironic twist to um. Da cringe comedy creators, dey spend time daydreaming up new ideas fo’ deir sketches. Da filming part, dat can take as short as one hour, and most times dey just do ’em from da comfort of deir own bedrooms. 🎬

But dis no like those videos where people just acting cringy by accident, yeah? We all seen ’em. Dey stay too serious and don’t even know dey making us uncomfortable.

Fo’ dose videos, Ms. Potenza say, “We no laughing wit you. We laughing AT you.” 😂

One oddah cringe creator named Riri Bichri wen start posting CringeTok videos in 2020, and by April she wen quit her electrical engineer job fo’ go full-time as one content creator. She wen build up 800,000 followers by drawing inspiration from 2000s romantic comedies, fan fiction, and her own cringy moments. 🙈

“I believe if I no feel embarrassed by wat I wen do yesterday, if I no cringe when I tink ’bout yesterday, den I neva grow,” Ms. Bichri wen say. 🌟

Den we get Brad Podray, one orthodontist from Des Moines. His TikTok account, called “Da Scumbag Dad,” wen start as one parody of an oddah TikTok creator named Nick Cho, known as “Your Korean Dad.” On his videos, Mr. Cho act all wholesome like one loving dad to his viewers.

Mr. Podray, he wen say, “My main comedy style, I like find trends and rip um apart so much, dey no look like da original anymore.”

His videos, shot from his own point of view, show him putting his fictional kid in all kine crazy situations. In Season 1, he wen go steal his keiki’s pain pills. By Season 6, da keiki helping him go kill drug dealers.

But Mr. Podray say, “I neva even finish da whole series, ’cause TikTok wen ban me too many times.” TikTok say dey no like videos dat exploit and abuse kids, even if dey just make believe. But no worries, Mr. Podray still stay making oddah parody videos. He say he making ’bout $150,000 every year from his TikTok and YouTube content. 💼

Now, let’s talk about how da cringe creator economy stay work.

Back in July 2020, TikTok wen start da Creator Fund fo’ give rewards to da popular accounts and encourage more content creation. Dey wen promise to give out $200 million at first, but now dey say da fund going grow pass $1 billion. But, how much each creator stay going get, dat stay different.

Maria Jung, da TikTok global product communications manager, wen say, “How much you going get from da Creator Fund depends on plenny factors. Like where people stay watching your videos, how much people engaging wit your videos, and if your videos follow our community rules and terms of service.”

People say creators wen get ’bout few cents fo’ every thousand views dey get on deir videos, but Ms. Jung, she no like say fo’ sure. 🤐

If you one creator wit millions of followers and plenny views fo’ every video, den you can make few thousand dollars every month from da Creator Fund. And if you get one engaged audience on TikTok, dat can even help you expand to oddah social media platforms. Meta wen stop their Reels Play bonus program, but you still can make money from Facebook Ad Reels, kinda like how YouTube pay creators. You can even post your content all ova da place fo’ make even mo’ money! 🌍

Ms. Potenza, she wen say, “Nothin’ really start picking up fo’ me until I start getting paid on YouTube. Dat’s wen I wen start making real money. If you like make dis one full-time thing, you gotta find plenny different ways fo’ keep da money flowing.”

YouTube stay different from TikTok, ’cause dey give 50 percent of da ad money to da creators. 🤝

So, when da followers stay growing and more people stay watching da videos, da cringe creators can charge mo’ fo’ brand deals.

Fo’ example, Ms. Potenza wen make one video pretending to be John Wick’s therapist fo’ help promote da new John Wick movie. And Mr. Podray, he get companies like Insta360 and Lovehoney sponsoring him. 🎬

Da mo’ followers you get and da mo’ views you get per video, da mo’ you can charge. Ms. Potenza, she wen get her first brand deal in 2020 and dey wen pay her $150 fo’ make one video. But da next year, wen her follower count wen grow and she wen get one agent fo’ help her negotiate, her rate went up to $5,000 fo’ one video. Now, she no take anything less than $10,000 fo’ one sponsored post.

As fo’ Ms. Bichri, she wen work wit companies like CashApp, Bubble Skincare, and Pluto TV. But she no even know how much money she wen make from dem, ’cause she say her agency neva pay her fo’ da work she wen do. 😣

But den we get dis problem. Some people in Congress wen propose one nationwide ban on TikTok ’cause dey say da app stay owned by China. If dat happen, den all da creators going lose da money dey making and all da hard work dey putting in. 😰

Ms. Potenza wen say, “I wen watch all dose congresspeople talk to da C.E.O. of TikTok ’bout stuff dey no even understand. So embarrassing. Now, I stay super pro-China.”

But, you know wat? Dey say cringe stay everywhere. Wat stay not cringe today, goin’ be cringe tomorrow. Just like how everybody going die and everybody going pay taxes, cringe stay goin’ come fo’ all of us. So no be surprised if brands stay like get in on da cringe action too. Being real embarrassing still stay authentic. 🙈

One guy named Wendell Scott, he one production coordinator in Atlanta. He work fo’ Delta Air Lines and teach dem how fo’ make good social media content. But when he pau working, he stay make TikTok videos where he have one cringy conversation in one duet or stitched video wit oddah creators. He get one video wit almost two million views where he playing one founding father who just find out John Hancock wen write his name real big on da Declaration of Independence. 😮

Fo’ him, cringe stay something all of us wen go through, but nobody like talk ’bout. Every single person wen do something odd or off da wall, even if dey tink it no stay odd. And he like bring dat oddness to life. 😜

So, no shame if you like watch da cringe videos. Da cringe creators stay out dere, making us laugh and cringe at da same time. 😂 But watch out, ’cause you might catch yourself doing da same tings in real life. Stay cringy, everybody! 🤙🏽

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NOW IN ENGLISH

💰 The CringeTok: Where Being Insufferable Can Be the 💰

In the world of CringeTok, creators strive to stay on top by impersonating the most terrible individuals and capitalizing on lucrative brand deals. 😳

During a three-part special on “Dr. Phil” discussing Jeffrey Dahmer, the infamous serial killer, they showed a TikTok video from a 27-year-old woman named Stanzi Potenza. In the video, Ms. Potenza humorously expressed her obsession with Netflix’s “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” claiming she stayed home from work and even wore diapers to watch the entire series. 😱

However, Dr. Phil misunderstood and thought she was serious!

As it turns out, Ms. Potenza is a cringe comedian and actor who refers to herself as a “sketch comedian from hell.” She gained millions of followers on TikTok and YouTube by posting videos where she pretends to mansplain everything, does sarcastic impersonations of Satan, and makes dry jokes about the movie “The Purge.” 😈

“I personally believe that the best comedy is a little bit painful,” she said. “It hurts, but it hurts in a good way, you know?” 😂

Now, the concept of “cringe” is not easy to define. The cringe world is vast, encompassing various aspects from outdated customs to the ways musicians attempt to connect with their fans. But when you see cringe, you know it. And on TikTok, you can actually build a whole career by intentionally being cringeworthy in the special section called CringeTok (I know this because my brother used to be a lawyer but now earns money by creating cringe videos since spring 2020). 🤑

Ms. Potenza studied the arts and even completed a six-week acting program at the William Esper Studio in New York. So, when she faces the camera, she feels right at home. She started posting cringe comedy videos when the pandemic hit because all the places where she could showcase her art were shut down. Her first TikTok video, where she cried while putting on clown makeup, went viral, garnering hundreds of thousands of views, which made her realize she had hit something good. 🎭

Now, she continues to grow her TikTok following, which is over 3.8 million strong! And guess what? All those followers translate into money for her. She claims to make over $200,000 every year just from her videos! 💸

So, how do you create a CringeTok video?

On TikTok, you can make money from various activities like doing makeup, selling watches, or simply being old! But CringeTok is all about putting on a show.

The secret to making a perfect CringeTok video lies in delving deep into the internet and your own life to find exaggerated traits that make people cringe, such as being clueless or full of oneself, and adding an ironic twist to them. Cringe comedy creators spend time brainstorming new ideas for their sketches. The filming process can take as little as an hour, and most of the time, they do it from the comfort of their own bedrooms. 🎬

But this is not like those videos where people act cringy by accident, right? We’ve all seen them. They take themselves too seriously and don’t even realize they’re making us uncomfortable.

Regarding those videos, Ms. Potenza says, “We’re not laughing with you. We’re laughing AT you.” 😂

Another cringe creator named Riri Bichri started posting CringeTok videos in 2020, and by April, she quit her job as an electrical engineer to become a full-time content creator. She built up a following of 800,000 by drawing inspiration from 2000s romantic comedies, fan fiction, and her own cringeworthy moments. 🙈

“I believe that if I’m not embarrassed by what I did yesterday, if I don’t cringe when I think about yesterday, then I haven’t grown,” Ms. Bichri said. 🌟

Then there’s Brad Podray, an orthodontist from Des Moines. His TikTok account, called “The Scumbag Dad,” started as a parody of another TikTok creator named Nick Cho, known as “Your Korean Dad.” In his videos, Mr. Cho acts wholesomely as a loving dad to his viewers.

Mr. Podray says, “My main comedy style is finding trends and tearing them apart so much that they don’t even resemble the original anymore.”

His videos, shot from his own perspective, show him putting his fictional child in various absurd situations. In Season 1, he stole his kid’s pain pills. By Season 6, the child was helping him kill drug dealers.

But Mr. Podray adds, “I never even finished the whole series because TikTok banned me too many times.” TikTok stated that they don’t like videos that exploit or abuse children, even if it’s all make-believe. But no worries, Mr. Podray continues to create parody videos. He claims to make about $150,000 every year from his TikTok and YouTube content. 💼

Now, let’s talk about how the cringe creator economy works.

In July 2020, TikTok launched the Creator Fund to reward popular accounts and encourage more content creation. They initially promised to give out $200 million, but now they say the fund will exceed $1 billion. However, the amount each creator receives varies.

Maria Jung, the TikTok global product communications manager, says, “How much you receive from the Creator Fund depends on several factors, such as where people watch your videos, how much engagement your videos generate, and whether your videos comply with our community rules and terms of service.”

People claim that creators receive a few cents per thousand views on their videos, but Ms. Jung prefers not to state the exact amount. 🤐

If you’re a creator with millions of followers and numerous views per video, you can earn thousands of dollars per month from the Creator Fund. Additionally, having an engaged audience on TikTok can help you expand to other social media platforms. Although Meta discontinued their Reels Play bonus program, you can still make money from Facebook Ad Reels, similar to how YouTube pays creators. You can even post your content across multiple platforms to earn even more money! 🌍

Ms. Potenza says, “Nothing really took off for me until I started getting paid on YouTube. That’s when I began making real money. If you want to turn this into a full-time gig, you have to find various ways to keep the money flowing.”

YouTube is different from TikTok because they give creators 50 percent of the ad revenue. 🤝

As the followers and video views increase, cringe creators can charge more for brand deals.

For instance, Ms. Potenza made a video pretending to be John Wick’s therapist to promote the new John Wick movie. Mr. Podray, on the other hand, has companies like Insta360 and Lovehoney sponsoring him. 🎬

The more followers and views you have per video, the higher your rates can be. Ms. Potenza got her first brand deal in 2020, receiving $150 for a video. But the following year, as her follower count grew and she enlisted an agent to negotiate for her, her rate increased to $5,000 per video. Currently, she doesn’t accept anything less than $10,000 for a sponsored post.

As for Ms. Bichri, she worked with companies like CashApp, Bubble Skincare, and Pluto TV. However, she doesn’t even know how much money she made from them because her agency never paid her for the work she did. 😣

But then there’s this problem. Some members of Congress have proposed a nationwide ban on TikTok because they claim the app is owned by China. If that were to happen, all the creators would lose the money they’re making and the hard work they’re putting in. 😰

Ms. Potenza says, “I watched all those congresspeople talking to the CEO of TikTok about things they don’t even understand. So embarrassing. Now, I’m super pro-China.”

But you know what? They say cringe is everywhere. What’s not cringe today will be cringe tomorrow. Just like how everybody will die and everybody will pay taxes, cringe will come for all of us. So don’t be surprised if brands want to get in on the cringe action too. Being genuinely embarrassing is still authentic. 🙈

There’s a guy named Wendell Scott, a production coordinator in Atlanta. He works for Delta Air Lines and teaches them how to create good social media content. But when he’s done working, he makes TikTok videos where he has cringeworthy conversations in duets or stitched videos with other creators. He has a video with almost two million views where he plays a founding father who just found out John Hancock wrote his name really big on the Declaration of Independence. 😮

For him, cringe is something all of us have gone through but nobody likes to talk about. Every single person has done something odd or off the wall, even if they didn’t think it was strange. And he likes to bring that oddness to life. 😜

So, no shame if you enjoy watching the cringe videos. The cringe creators are out there, making us laugh and cringe at the same time. 😂 But be careful, because you might catch yourself doing the same things in real life. Stay cringy, everybody! 🤙🏽