What does as mean on TikTok can be answered in a second by TikTok fans. However, if you are not a regular TikTok user or do not have an account on the platform, you might need some elaboration on the same.
Nowadays, social media has surrounded our real as well as virtual lives. The trends making their way into social media also guide our lives beyond our imagination. So, having a lag regarding one of the most popular TikTok trends of the time is not at all desirable.
So, let’s begin our journey in solving the question- what does as mean on TikTok?
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What does as mean on TikTok?
Since the inception of Instagram and TikTok, a hashtag has been a very common thing to extend your profile’s reach on the social media platform.
So, recently, many users on the TikTok platform were creating and uploading videos with the hashtag ‘as’.
Such was the popularity of the hashtag that internet was instantly filled with the question, what does [as] mean?
To find the answer to the question of what does as mean on TikTok, we will have to time travel a little to the past.
The history of the Adult Swim trend
The time is hard for the 90s kids, and recently Cartoon Network franchise declared its absorption with the Warner Brothers. This marked the end of an era for many kids who grew up watching famous cartoon shows on the channel.
You might be wondering why we are talking about Cartoon Network while seeking an answer to what does as mean on TikTok?
TikTok and Cartoon Network are generations apart! While one feeds the minds of this generation, the other nourishes the young minds of the previous generation. So, what is the common ground?
Well, did you know Cartoon Network, from 2001, also started feeding content to the mind of young adults during nighttime? Are you taken aback after hearing this?
But, the other side of Cartoon Network started a brand called adult swim which used to run adult and unfiltered content on their channel as part of its matinee shows.
While Adult Swim has now moved under Warner Bros. Discovery US Networks Group, but it had a shining career of nearly 20 years.
Initially debuting in 2001, Adult Swim started running from 9 P.M. to 6 A.M., ideally the time when children are asleep. So, this live-action and animated shows would also feature slang, so-called obscene content, adult scenes, graphic violence, and nudity.
There were also a host of mockumentaries, pilots, and sketch comedies. So, the target audience of the adult swim was always the adult. It was as if an alter-ego of what Cartoon Network meant to us.
Thus, apart from the context of TikTok, you have probably figured out what does adult swim mean in general. Let’s go back to the adult swim trend with the answer to what does as mean in hand.
Adult Swim trend on TikTok
TikTok is a completely different space than Cartoon Network or its alter-ego, Adult Swim. Thus, to find the as meaning TikTok, we will have to forget about the shows for a while.
The shows hosted by Adult Swim did not inspire the adult swim trend on TikTok. Instead, they took the idea of short bumpers that Adult Swim used to promote its shows.
What does bumpers mean?
Bumpers are short videos, or in today’s language, you may also equate them with short reels that are used to promote any brand or any product.
Adult Swim used bumpers to promote its shows. The retirement of Mike Lazzo (Cartoon Network’s original head programmer and creator of Adult Swim) was also announced via a bumper in December 2019.
So, when you ask what adult swim means TikTok, you need to get this concept of a bumper straight.
What does an as bumper look like?
You might now wonder how does the videos featuring AS hashtags look like. What do they use as content?
The TikTok AS videos are tributes to the original bumpers that Adult Swim used in promoting their content. While their content was quite simple, which might have random videos and scenes, the present AS bumpers are a similar storehouse of similar random blabbers.
You might see a normal living room, a glass of beer, a smoking cigarette, and a TV set from the 2000s that features the words [as]. You might see a video where someone struggles with their science project when the calculator displays the sign [as].
So, in this way, this trend on TikTok tried to rejuvenate the memories of adult swim, not by reminiscing about the shows, but the brand in totality.
The popularity of the hashtag as a trend has skyrocketed. Its peak time was June 2021. As far as the next year was concerned, it showed no signs of going down the road.
On January 2022, hashtag adult swim had more than 6 billion views, while hashtag adult swim challenge crossed 133 million views.
Who made Adult Swim trendy?
Now knowing about the history and meaning of the Adult Swim trend, you might harp on an important question.
Who made the adult swim trend trendy? Well, any TikTok profile could one day pick up a theme and decide to make videos paying tribute to adult swim nostalgia. But, would that seize the moment on the internet? No!
But, the scenario changed when @supvano, also known as Vana 3000, used BADBADNOTGOOD’S Time Moves Slow song featuring Sam Herring in his own created beat.
He also used this song in his bumpers or short reels. It was so famous instantaneously that he even promised to release the beat. Thus, this marked the inception of the adult swim trend.
Final Thoughts
So, after much ramblings on social media regarding what does as mean on TikTok, we hope it was a pretty clear-cut answer to that.
If you are still in oblivion, just type as on TikTok, and face the flood of content on the platform! Till then, stay tuned!
