Dabloons, autopsy of a TikTok meme: Self-excitation and self-destruction in social media cultures

In this paper, we analyze the very short and yet very rich story of a TikTok meme: the rise and fall of the dabloon fictive currency. We examine this story as an example of self-exciting trendiness: a common internet dynamic in which trendiness and cultural vibrancy become inextricably intertwined. In the case of the dabloons and of many other memetic phenomena in TikTok and other platforms, this connection creates a spiraling cycle of popularity that is as potent as it is cursory. TikTokers understood all too well that the dabloon currency was going to be a fad, but, rather than being discouraged by this ephemerality, they pushed it to its extremes. Like many online communities, they doubled down on the transience of their subculture, and did so in the most literal way, using the inflation of their currency to first escalate and then implode the trend. The rise and fall of the dabloon trend offers a cautionary tale about the accelerated cycles of online cultures and internet memes: an illustration of how online communities can create culture not despite but by means of their ephemerality.