- TikTok, the viral video-sharing app, experienced its first full calendar year of existence in the United States in 2019.
- The influential platform transformed internet culture and acted as a springboard for viral memes this year: It sent Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" to the top of the music charts, gave VSCO girls and e-girls a platform to thrive on, and launched a new generation of influencers and social media stars.
- We asked employees at Business Insider about their favorite TikToks of the year. You can see their picks below, ranging from riffs on viral challenges, to reinterpretations of popular songs, to videos that bring viewers pure happiness or instant laughs.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
SEE ALSO: These were the 10 biggest breakout stars on TikTok in 2019
We can only hope that there's some truth behind this reimagined origin story of YouTube James Charles' "Hi Sisters" catchphrase (Kat Tenbarge, Insider digital culture reporter).
This TikTok brought a whole other meaning to "I'm feeling 22," from Taylor Swift's 2012 hit (Jacob Shamsian, Insider news editor).
In a riff of the viral "call your crush" challenge, this video took a surprising turn (Libby Brandt, Business Insider real estate reporter).
While "Old Town Road" itself became popular on TikTok, the song of 2019 spawned its own plethora of TikToks (Will Antonelli, Business Insider associate freelance editor).
American teens latched onto parodying a popular Australian drama TV show from the early 2000s called "H2O: Just Add Water." (Juliana Kaplan, Business Insider freelance associate editor).
This scene from a convenient store in Georgia may as well be from Canada, where they actually drink milk out of bags (Graham Rapier, Business Insider transportation reporter).
In time for the Thanksgiving holidays, this relatable video shows what techies everywhere have to deal with from their families (Rosalie Chan, Business Insider senior enterprise tech reporter).
A TikTok user went full-on beauty influencer on her kid sister, and gave her a one-of-a-kind makeover (Elizabeth Morales, Insider distribution producer).
Our BI reporter loved this TikTok so much she actually went to recreate it where the original one was filmed: the Oculus, right across the street from BI's offices (Kat Tenbarge, Insider digital culture reporter).
This woman on TikTok gave out many pieces of advice on her channel, but this may have been the most important one yet (Will Antonelli, Business Insider associate freelance editor).
We're all glad to have an answer to the question of how Ariana Grande manages to eat while sporting a signature oversized hoodie (Jacob Shamsian, Insider news editor).
This attempt to recreate the introduction to Pixar movies didn't go quite as planned ... and the disastrous result was what made this TikTok so good (Nick Fernandez, Insider cinematographer).
2019 also introduced us to Pastor Grant, a Methodist Christian and LGBTQ ally we all need (Juliana Kaplan, Business Insider freelance associate editor).
If you're wondering what a little bit of bad karma can do, this is the perfect video for you (Aaron Holmes, Business Insider tech fellow).
The Nintendo game Tomodachi Life saw a resurgence on TikTok this year, and nothing says 2019 like making your avatar sing a song about VSCO girls (Kat Tenbarge, Insider digital culture reporter).
The TikTok feature to create reaction videos to other TikTok clips was used to create the hilarity in this viral one (Will Antonelli, Business Insider associate freelance editor).
We're including the famed video of hundreds of gummy bears singing holding an Adele concert, even though it's technically from 3 days before the start of 2019 (Steven Tweedie, Business Insider deputy editor).
Dogs on TikTok are always guaranteed to bring some great content, and this video is no different. Here's to 2020 bringing us more memes and viral hilarity! (Paige Leskin, Business Insider tech reporter.)4