In today’s world, more people are creating a platform on TikTok than ever. TikTok offers a unique experience for content creators to show short videos involving anything from comedy skits to dance videos. For Xavier alumna Dani Oberfoell (X20) and current Xavier senior Lucas Lowder, TikTok has helped them go viral. 

Oberfoell has gathered 196.8K followers on her account, where she posts videos of her artistic processes for each piece. 

“I started making videos for TikTok because I already liked filming the process behind my work to share on Instagram,” Oberfoell said. “I figured I could use TikTok to market my business [selling artwork] and reach more of an audience, and now, a majority of my exposure comes from my TikTok page.”

Oberfoell has gained a lot of recognition from her artwork, her most popular video having 850K likes and around 3.4 million views. She has been creating art from a young age and TikTok has given her a platform to promote her work and encourage others.

“My main goal with my account, besides selling artwork, is to inspire others, especially young kids, to try art,” Oberfoell said. “It makes me sad that so many people assume they are ‘terrible at art’ when art comes in so many different forms of expression, so I hope my videos show that anyone can find a creative outlet.”

Lowder, on the other hand, has found fame through vlogs and sharing his musical talents. He now has 101.2K followers and a total of 2.9 million likes on his page.

“The first video that made me go viral was a vlog that I made of my day and my friends and I getting ice cream together after a cross country practice. I posted the video just for fun, and about a week after I posted it, I was shocked to wake up having gained a couple thousand followers,” Lowder said. “I continued posting more and more because of that one video and now I have over 100K followers. Even though I look back on that video and cringe, I will always be thankful for the opportunity that it gave me to share my content with a wider audience and create a community on my page.”

Since then, Lowder has increased his following largely through his guitar playing videos, with a majority of those clips reaching well over 15K views.

“A large part of my presence on TikTok is in music and guitar. Music on TikTok can often be a very toxic area, however, I am constantly spreading positivity and always encouraging people to play. It’s the greatest feeling for me when I inspire someone to pick up a guitar for the first time,” Lowder said.

Both of these Saints, past and present, have left their marks through social media. Through their content, they both aspire to spread messages of positivity. Give support to Lowder and Oberfoell on their TikTok pages @lucaslowder and @artbydvo, respectively.