Sarah Magliocco explores how 'Get Ready With Me' videos have boomed in popularity on social media, and why they've become one of users' most beloved genres of content.
As its name suggests, Get Ready With Me (GRWM) videos see users posting their "getting ready" routines for various scenarios, such as going to school, heading out to a nightclub, or slightly more unusual pursuits such as turning oneself into jail or confronting a cheating ex.
They're peppered with anecdotes from the creator’s life, and told straight to camera, as though on a FaceTime call with an old friend.
While this style of content has been around for as long as social media has, it has risen in popularity during the pandemic and since, as audiences seek out and value the companionship that such intimate (albeit one-way) conversations offer.
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A casual scroll on TikTok can offer up deep dives into memorable true crime cases, reflections on being single in your 30s, trying to change your birth control, struggling through mental health issues, and even where to find the best coffee in your city.
The GRWM side of the Internet is often a no holds barred corner of the digital space where sharing an intimate moment with followers can be a salve for loneliness.
When things get too shiny, poised, and high quality, some users may tune out a little, as there is no longer a feeling of intimacy between them and the creator. GRWM videos – often filmed on phones propped up against a mirror in someone’s bathroom or bedroom – imbue a sense of familiarity that helps to develop a comfortable parasocial relationship between creator and community.
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The fashion or beauty routines are often coupled with a 'storytime' that invites the audience into the creator's day or week, with the likes of Kylie Jenner and Sophie Richie Grainge joining the scores of users sharing beauty tips and chatting about their lives.
This oversharing (or reasonable amount of sharing, depending on who you ask) gives both a glimpse at a usually solitary ritual – getting ready – and a feeling of at-arm's-length closeness we develop toward those who exist to us only through our phone and laptop screens.
For many people, this type of content can feel like a warm hug from an old friend. The comment sections of popular GRWM videos are littered with proclamations from those who feel like they are speaking to a pal on the phone while watching. Some of the content is specially geared to trigger this feeling, with titles like "honest grwm like we're calling on facetime," and "chit-chat grwm: girl..pick up the facetime call!"
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Of course, the genre can also be used to present a more relatable image to followers, and can be as curated as any filtered grid selfie. Authenticity, the great currency of the digital world, becomes even more important here.
Some of TikTok’s fastest-growing creators owe their popularity to GRWM videos. Alix Earle has become something of a social media phenomenon, with endless social engagements to take her followers to, along with a sparkling personality that matches her charm.
The New Jersey native made her mark on the platform with a series of seemingly uneventful GRWM videos, documenting her makeup and hair processes for college. These relatable videos have built her a massive audience – 8.4 million across TikTok and Instagram.
Irish influencers have also been paying heed to the move towards a more laid-back approach. Eabha O'Donoghue is one such Irish creator, who began uploading to social media more frequently during the pandemic, which launched her influencing career.
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She cites the queen of GRWMs Alix Earle as one of her favourite’s to follow: "When I watch her GRWMs I feel like we’re on FaceTime and she’s having a conversation with me. I feel like we know each other, and I think that is what everyone likes, feeling like they know the person."
Eabha explains that for her, the love of creating GRWM content comes from the confidence and the community it brings her online:
"When I post a video, I feel like people find me relatable because I don’t hold back. When I see that people are enjoying the video, it makes me so happy that people are interested and want to see more, and that people come to me for fashion advice. It gives me so many positives. I feel like that is where I get my confidence from."
In comparison to a platform like Instagram, where it can be all about the angles, the poses and the glamour, TikTok seems to have become a more comforting space where we see creators in their fluffy dressing gowns, Sudocrem on their faces, sitting down for a good chat.
Bronagh Quinn, founder of Enhance Management which looks after a number of Ireland’s biggest social media stars, explains that this has a very specific draw for brands when it comes to influencer marketing, thanks to the freedom creators feel when it comes to using the app.
"From speaking to some of the creators I represent, they turn towards TikTok because it is where they feel more comfortable," she said. "People have started speaking on the app more, and the sounds TikTok have integrated into the app, plus the live video element. TikTok is nearly like a safe space where you feel like you're speaking to your friends and they are surrounding you."
It’s this element of closeness, that development of a casual and relaxed connection, that is cited by both creators and audiences as the reason they keep coming back for more. The idea of never having to get ready alone again is a seductive one, similar to the Mukbang phenomenon where creators sit down to eat a meal on camera and talk, with many viewers saying that they sit down to consume an ordinarily solitary meal in the virtual company of their favourite creator.
It’s a classic case of social media allowing us to connect with one another in ways that were previously impossible, but when it comes to GRWMs, the benefits go beyond companionship and expand to tutorials, recommendations, and entertainment.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ.
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