'The impossible-to-ignore, 2 billion strong platform is leveraging a massive sheltering-at-home audience hungry for new content to draw A-listers and turn its homegrown roster into bankable stars (with reality TV shows, of course).'
'If you're wondering how society got to a place where a doe-eyed, freckle-nosed high schooler garnered millions of followers and coveted late night appearances for dancing in her bedroom, you're not alone. D'Amelio's own TikTok profile reads, "Don't worry I don't get the hype either." She says she wasn't after fame: "I was just making videos for fun like everyone else." Even her parents are a bit surprised. "I don't know how it happened," says her dad, apparel entrepreneur Marc D'Amelio. "I saw her dancing. Next thing you know, she had 500,000 followers."
Fame comes fast and furious on TikTok, which uses a powerful algorithm to excavate someone from anonymity and turn them into an overnight sensation. A year ago, D'Amelio had yet to post her first TikTok video. Now, she has the potential to earn millions and a team of agents, managers and lawyers working tirelessly behind the scenes. Though the nature of internet virality is that it can disappear as quickly as it arrives, there's evidence to suggest — and a growing faction in Hollywood who are mobilizing to ensure — that TikTok stars like D'Amelio won't be fleeting. "There's something happening here," says D'Amelio's agent, Ali Berman, who as co-head of digital talent at UTA has spent the better part of the past decade molding the careers of the internet famous. "This is definitely a place to discover new talent."'
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