Cameras flashed, students danced and music played through loudspeakers at a party celebrating one student and content creator hitting a million followers on Instagram.
Natalie Tran, acting sophomore and social media influencer on TikTok and Instagram, posts “brain-rot” content while promoting her acting and producing journey online. In January, Tran surpassed one million followers on Instagram. Instead of having a small get-together with a few friends, Tran decided to host a party in West Campus selling over 120 presale tickets for $10 and having around 300 UT students attend on Feb. 7.
“Such a large portion of my audience (is) UT students,” Tran said. “Every time I go out, there are people who see me, and they’re genuine fans.”
Evan Rama, finance sophomore and friend of Tran, assisted Tran with planning her party, which included working with UT fraternity Phi Sigma Kappa and its president Ivan De La Torre. De La Torre said the fraternity has been prepared to host since receiving a special events permit from Austin for the party which allows a significant amount of people to gather at one location.
“We had this idea in late December … because you can’t hit a million followers and not do anything special,” Rama said. “(We had) been planning logistics out and finding venues.”
After Tran posted about the party on her social media, the line to get in formed long before the gates were opened. Rumors of an appearance by 12-year-old TikToker Baby Gronk only caused the crowd to grow.
Baby Gronk (Madden San Miguel) similarly produces “brain-rot” content and posts about his football journey. After coming to Austin on the day of the party, San Miguel’s guardians reached out to Tran. However, as more people arrived, San Miguel and his guardians left the fraternity house.
“This is probably the only time I’m going to see (Baby Gronk),” De La Torre said. “It’s pretty dope to have two influencers (at the house).”
As the night progressed, more students arrived to party and met Tran. Business senior Daniel Min, business sophomore Elijah Wang Chen and psychology sophomore Diya Verma said they came to the party to support Tran and celebrate her milestone.
“It’s a good place to meet new people and socialize. I feel like the way she (organized the party for UT students) was smart,” Verma said.
When the clock struck midnight, Tran approached the stage ready for the main event. As she picked students out from the crowd, Tran’s fans stood beside her on stage and participated in a look-alike competition. The contestants focused on acting like Tran by copying her signature “animation hand movements” and other distinct characteristics of her content to win a prize of $100.
“I had no idea she was having a contest,” said biology sophomore Sara Bagheri, winner of the contest. “I didn’t think I was going to win (at all).”
Tran said she hopes to host more events similar to her party to not only to boost her platforms but to give back to her fans and the UT community.
“Being in college is a good opportunity for content creators,” Tran said. “There are so many opportunities on campus and so many people around all the time … it’s definitely easier to find people to help me with my videos.”
