There is a new way to bring poetry and social media that is becoming increasingly more popular. If you’re not interested in poetry on paper, you might want to look into this form.

Poetry dates back to ancient Mesopotomian times, around 3400 B.C., with its first form being markings on clay tablets. This form is now long outdated, so poets around the world are showcasing their literary arts in another way: TikTok videos. 

TikTok is a social media platform where users post 15-180 second long videos for others to view, like, and comment.

TikTok is beneficial to many new poets because the TikTok algorithm will bring users who have liked other poetry videos to similar videos, therefore giving new poets the exposure that would’ve taken years in the past. 

“It’s a nice break from the constant jokes on my For You page” said sophomore Amanda Merrick, @amandamerrick on TikTok 

While poetry has many unique forms and is interpreted differently by everyone, there’s five poets on TikTok whose works resonate the best with me. 

1. @daniwrites329 

This writer has gained popularity from what many would consider more traditional poetry. They display their typed poems by filming their computer screen’s open document.  Most of their poems are about one page in length.

While each poem is about a different topic, a clear and honest style is shown throughout their works. 

In one of their more recently published poems, Dani wrote about turning 23 and how strange it felt having a birthday without their past lover. The following lines stood out to me the most: “How we would always joke about growing old together/ But I don’t think either of us realized that we weren’t done growing up yet”. 

This poet’s work perfectly captures the emotions of all youth going through a breakup that they never thought that they would go through. I hope to see this artist’s account grow more and more as people realize how relatable their work is. 

  2. @whitneyhansonpoetry (Whitney Hanson)

Hanson often chooses to share their poetry through reading videos rather than typing them over a video. In my opinion, this form of sharing allows the writer to express more emotion through their poems. 

In their book titled Home that is available on Amazon, Hanson has a collection of poems that, from my observation, are mainly centered around relationships and the grieving process of them. 

On page 145 of this book, there is a poem about fearing that a breakup wasn’t the right thing to do in their relationship. While Hanson was reading this poem, I could feel the raw emotion in their voice. To me, this element is what makes a poet stand out from others. 

  3.@sabinalaurapoetry (Sabina Laura) 

At this point, Laura has a smaller following on TikTok than the other artists I’ve listed, but she has written four books, all of which are available on Amazon. 

Sabina posts their poems through videos of her book pages. One of her books is titled Moonflower and is filled with short poems with illustrations on a few of the pages. 

On page 129 of Moonflower, the poem is a metaphor about plants blooming symbolizing people. I enjoy how they include poems that have positive messages as well, something that is often harder to write when it comes to poetry. 

     4.@kristinamahr (Kristina Mahr)

Unlike other TikTok poets, Mahr chooses to share their poetry both vocally and visually. 

They keep the camera on one of their poetry collection book pages while they reads over it. I prefer this method, because it allows me to follow along while they’re speaking and process the words better. 

Their poetry takes a more casual and conversational form, something that is becoming more common in the poetry community. The majority of their poems are about heartbreak, and this is another writer where I can feel the pain that’s embedded in the sentences. 

My favorite line from one of her poem’s is “I emptied all of my love into your bones” from her book ‘I Wrote You a Poem’. 

Mahr’s books are all available on both Amazon and Etsy; she has 12 in total. 

     5.@freyaede (Freya) 

This poet’s work varies in both length and topics. One topic that they write about is being a part of the LGBTQIA+ community and their relationships. 

I personally don’t see many poets with as wide a topic range as they cover. For example, their book Be The Blooming Flower features poems about both mental health and relationships. 

In poetry books that I’ve seen, a consistent theme is typically present, so it’s interesting to see one that shows many different areas of the poet’s feelings. 

“And now you are just a stranger who knows me in the way a lover should” from their book ‘All Despite the Darkness’ would be one of my favorite excerpts of their poetry.  

Honorable mention: @randompoemsimade

This poet displays their work against a landscape background with their poem typed rather than spoken poetry or a book video. This is an uncommon form and gives off a music video feel. 

One issue that I’ve seen with the majority of poets on TikTok is stolen work. It can be difficult to track down the original writer of a poem when they can be stolen with a simple copy and paste. 

When authors catch their poems being stolen, TikTok is often good with listening to reports and taking the thief’s account down. However, I hope to see a way that this can be managed better in the future.