This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s fall editorial intern Jason Tsoi. Find him on Instagram at @jason.tsoi. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Mama, a girl behind you. Ellie and Mason House. What I do? If you’ve heard these phrases in the past few months, odds are you’ve ended up on Floptok — a TikTok genre that thrives on posting videos of memes. Many of these memes come from low quality, comical media that resurface online. Once they go viral, the original content takes on a new meaning with relatable or absurd captions. Like many TikTok genres, Floptok allows users to build a sense of community with each other through their content. But did you know Floptok has a rich lore behind it?
The Lore of Floptok
In order to understand Floptok, you have to know the meaning behind the slang, “flop.” The popularized slang descends from Stan Twitter — a community on X, formerly known as Twitter, that is notable for its memes and opinions on celebrity culture. Users on Stan Twitter use the word “flop” to describe when an artist’s new song or album performs poorly. Many artists have fallen victim to these criticisms, including Billie Eilish. Weeks before her second album release, Eilish received comments on social media, claiming she was in her “flop era.” In response, the singer-songwriter posted a now deleted video, striking back at her critics with the caption, “literally all i see on this app… eat my dust my t— are bigger than yours.”
Since then, TikTokers embraced the slang by intentionally posting mediocre memes with self-deprecating captions, which is how Floptok got its name. Although it’s unclear who initiated Floptok, the community, who call themselves “Flops,” quickly gained traction on the platform in 2021. As Floptok grew in numbers, members rallied around the idea of establishing “Floptropica” — a fictional island country for the Flops to harmoniously live in. Based on Guafo Island, located off the coast of Chile, Floptropica became the center of multiple cohesive, fictional storylines on Floptok.
After Floptropica formed, a predominantly male group, referred to as “DaBoyz” by the Flops, began ridiculing Floptok content. Embodying the traits of toxic masculinity, DaBoyz were notorious for leaving misogynistic and homophobic comments under Floptok videos. This rivalry sparked the creation of numerous fictional wars between the two factions, such as “The Badussy War.” Playing along with the fictional wars, the Flops generated videos, featuring Floptropica’s “icons” fighting or commanding the Flops into battle. But, who are these “icons” and how did they become the faces of Floptropica?
The Floptropica Icons
In every country, you need someone to rule. That’s where Deborah Ali-Williams — the President and Funeral Director of All Peoples’ Funeral Home in Houston, Texas, and “President of Floptropica,” steps in. Ali-Williams acquired the executive position in early 2023, when a series of viral videos showcased her gracefully making funeral service preparations and directing traffic. Captivated by Ali-Williams’ professionalism and elegant manner, the Flops turned these videos into relatable memes, making self-deprecating jokes about themselves. During a TikTok LIVE, Ali-Williams acknowledged Floptropica, saluting Flops on the livestream.
Another well known figure in Floptropica is Jiafei — the “Queen of Floptropica.” The Jiafei meme began in late 2021, when spam bot accounts flooded TikTok, using the usernames “Jiafei” followed by a string of cryptic numbers. The bot accounts also used the same profile picture of a woman, who widely became known as Jiafei. On top of the spam bots, the platform also saw videos of bot accounts advertising innovative household products, using Mo Shi Man and Rock Cat’s “Yěhuāxiāng.”
Following the termination of these bot accounts, Jiafei became an online sensation on Floptok as Flops made parody accounts, emulating the bot accounts. The Flops stylized their videos with Ranvision’s remixes of Mo Shi Man and Rock Cat’s song, copying the CupcakKe remix trend, as well as incorporating the recognizable “Jiafei scream.” Initially, many believed the Jiafei picture was a Photoshopped image of Chinese K-pop stars, Meng Jia and Weng Feifei. But these beliefs were debunked when Dai Dai revealed on TikTok that she is the woman in the iconic picture. Since then, Dai Dai embraced the TikTok genre, holding a Floptropica flag and even joining in on Floptropica’s fictional wars.
Other Floptropica icons include, Teala Dunn, CupcakKe, Trisha Paytas and Wendy Williams. These Floptok icons paved the way for future memes, such as the memes that I mentioned at the start.
The Latest Memes On Floptok
As of today, Floptok remains active, sharing memes that instantly go viral on the platform. One of the current viral memes comes from a 2018 Facebook post by Keirra Denee’ Smith, showing Smith’s son filming her on Snapchat. In the video, a Bitmoji figure appears next to Smith, causing the young boy to say, “Mommy— mama, a girl behind you.” Confused by this remark, Smith then walked towards her son to collect her phone. In August, the video resurfaced on Floptok, where users posted edits and reenactments of the viral video.
Another meme that made the rounds of Floptok is a 2021 post on X from Katy Dorman, whose account is now private. In the post, Dorman shared screenshots of text messages between her and her daughter, Mercedes Dorman. In the conversation, the young girl sent photos to her mother, crying, along with the texts, “Please can I go to Ellie and mason” and “House.” Years later, the wholesome exchange grew in popularity on Floptok, leading to the creation of multiple edits. In late August, Katy and Mercedes Dorman took part in the trend with a video, acting out a version of the meme.
And finally, an additional meme that circulated around Floptok comes from a 2019 Funny Marco YouTube video. In the video, Marco Summers pranked Walmart shoppers, accusing them of committing a wrongdoing. One of those shoppers is Jade Nguyen, a nail and makeup artist. When faced with an accusation by Summers, Nguyen responded in AAVE with, “What I do?” The clip resurfaced and went viral on Floptok in late August with Flops making relatable memes and different variations of the popularized line. Amid the rising popularity of the meme, Nguyen joined TikTok and posted a video, making a joke about the clip.
What do you think about the TikTok genre, Floptok? Do you have a favorite meme? Let us know in the comments.
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