With disrupted academics, students turned to TikTok for micro-learning.
Because students couldn't gather in person, they gathered on the For You Page (FYP). Here were the pillars of college 20/21 entertainment on TikTok:
| Trend | Description | The College Angle | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Sea Shanties | (Jan 2021) Nathan Evans’ "Wellerman" remix. | A collective escape from pandemic reality. Boring async lectures were replaced by harmonic group calls. | | Corn Kid | (Late 2021) “It’s corn!” | The pure, unhinged joy that comes from sleep deprivation and dining hall scarcity. | | POV: College Student | Skits about eating ramen at 3 AM. | Relatability as currency. The "That Girl" routine (waking up at 5 AM to journal) vs. the reality (wearing the same hoodie for a week). | | Cottagecore | Frolicking in fields, baking bread, wearing long flowy dresses. | An escape from the gray Zoom grid. Students romanticized a life they couldn't have while locked in a concrete dorm. | college gangbang 7 20 21 lolly cumshotp1909 min top
In a normal year, college students watch The Office or Grey’s Anatomy to avoid studying. In 20/21, they watched to survive. However, the trending content shifted from background noise to long-form comfort epics.
Date: April 12, 2026 (Retrospective Analysis) Prepared For: Campus Activities Board / Student Life Administrators Subject: Analysis of entertainment consumption and cultural trends among U.S. college students during the 2020–2021 academic year. With disrupted academics, students turned to TikTok for
Live music was impossible, so artists got creative.
Without the ability to go to movie theaters or crowded music venues, streaming services became the de facto campus union. Among Us: The ultimate social deduction game of 2020
The primary way college students connected during this year was through specific apps designed for quick, often chaotic, digital interaction.
As a counter to isolation, students engaged with absurdist, fast-paced, or dramatic content.