Where to find cute winter boots.
Have you seen my cute winter boots?
But the expression isnt about creators shopping for lace-up or nonslip footwear options online.
Frozen American Flag in Southeastern PennsylvaniaGetty Images
(TikTok did not respond toRolling Stones request for comment.)
Thats how the cute winter bootstrendwas born.
Now its a dog whistle meant to attract like-minded liberal posters on TikTok.
There is always going to be a faction of people that say its performative.
Im not trying to profit off of [my video.]
But Augusts videos arent the norm.
In fact, theyre some of the only ones out there with a real call to action behind them.
This cute winter boots phrase isnt directing people necessarily to already existing avenues of community support.
The trend is a trend for a reason.
People want to participate in advocacy and social change.
But at the same time, we can invest in infrastructure thats already there.
This isnt the first time online communities have attempted to use phrases or code words to organize.
Its similar to the black box situation.
Posting about cute winter boots doesnt do anything to help with emergent situations in your area.
Posting alone is not an act of resistance.
But thats incredibly difficult to prove.
People should remain wary of platforms that seem like theyre soft launching political bias or forms of censorship.
Theyre contending with police, Tran says.
And I dont know if we can meme our way out of this.
