Are TikTok life hack videos actually hidden 'fetish' videos?

TikTok is full of different content such as life hack videos which can often border on strange and silly - but does this type of popular content have an underlining theme of appealing to viewers with sexual fetishes?

From using buttered bread to butter corn on the cob to making a foot mould, along with rubbing a banana on feet to help with dry skin, the life hacks are often peculiar and absurd.

Now, some viewers have pointed out what craft videos - some from one of the biggest life hack accounts with 11m followers - they believe to have sexual fetish undertones - despite TikTok's guidelines that ban "content that depicts a sexual fetish."

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As a result of the video's popularity on social media, the adult website PornHub now has videos tagged under a popular crafting page, BBCreported.

Feet are often at the centre of some of the videos (a well-known fetish) while other TikTok's include "messing around" with icing a cake, and showering while wearing jeans to make them easier to button up.

TikToker Lydia Love (@goddesslydiaxo), who says she has "seen and heard it all" after doing "spicy things for the last six years" has gone viral by highlighting this point in certain life hack videos.

"There are some pretty specific things that stand out for me," Lydia told 9Honey.

"What I've noticed on these accounts who post the fetish content is they kind of have a variety of different things that they're posting, but they're also related to the same topic."

While another TikToker Lena Rae (@lenarae.lh) has also been a hit on the platform with her viral series "Is this fetish content?" where she duets a life hack and gives her opinion on whether there is a hidden X-rated message.

According to the BBC, TikTok reviewed some of the clips they reported on such as the silicone foot as well as the banana smushing with feet and the company said those videos do not break their rules.

Alix Fox, a writer, broadcaster and sex expert explained to the publication how it's "extremely difficult to prove" videos are specifically made for those with fetishes in mind.

"The lines between what is absolutely knowledgeable that fetishists will want to watch it - versus just total coincidence... those lines are becoming increasingly blurred," she said.

Although these craft videos are also a hit on Facebook and Instagram, they've also taken off on TikTok thanks to the algorithm and engagement from viewers which rewards creators who are "bringing in the money," according to Fox.

"It doesn't matter whether that commentary is positive or negative, sexual or innocent," Fox noted on the income stream and expressed her concern for young viewers potentially being exposed to this kind of content and adult discussions.

"Young people are being exposed to confusing, sexualised things on the internet, whether deliberately or not," she added.

Indy100 has reached out to TikTok for comment.

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