For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. It’s science. It follows then, that for every amazing TikTok video you come across, for every genius 15-second cinematic masterpiece you watch on loop, there’s an equally terrible foil. It makes sense that an app with half a billion users will produce a few duds, but for the absolute worst of the worst, there’s a chance to gain notoriety from their awfulness.
Twitter account @toxictiktoks is celebrating those videos; the worst the platform has to offer, the cursed clips that will induce in you a full-body shuddering cringe and make you want to log off forever. Basically, stuff like this:
“That one is one of the absolute worst for me,” the anonymous creator of the Cursed TikToks account tells i-D. Identifying themselves as a student who likes baking, video games and antique shopping, they’re leading a one-person war against bad content. Whether you have a TikTok account or not — this particular curator admits they only use it to find and post the worst videos on Twitter — they’re making sure you see the darkest corners of the internet anyway.
“For a lot of the stuff I post, it’s a lack of self awareness that makes it cursed. Like, ‘Why did they think this was sexy?’ ‘Why would anyone post this?’ Any of the horny stuff makes me physically react,” they add. “Like, I can feel myself cringing or I have to set my phone down because of what I’ve just seen.”
We asked Cursed TikToks to pick their five worst (or best) videos.
“As a rule, if it makes me scowl at my phone I post it,” said the account’s creator. See how far you get into this lot without flushing your phone down the toilet:
You’re welcome!