RedCookie229's "First Date Went Wrong" TikTok

Submission 504

Part of a series on Catfish / Catfishing. [View Related Entries]

About

RedCookie229's "First Date Went Wrong" TikTok refers to a viral video posted by TikToker RedCookie229 in March 2024 in which she complained about a first date gone wrong when the man didn't think that she looked like her pictures from the dating app. The video caused a viral debate as many sided with the man, saying that she catfished him. Discourse about whether or not RedCookie229 was a catfish spread across social media sites like Twitter / X over the following days.

Origin

On March 22nd, 2024, TikToker^[1] @redcookie229 posted a video of herself in a car with text reading, "first date went wrong." She relayed a recent date, during which the man was upset because she purportedly did not "look like her pictures." @redcookie229 showed a picture from her dating app profile, claiming that she doesn't edit or photoshop. Over one week, the TikTok received roughly 1.6 million plays and 72,300 likes (shown below).

Spread

On the day of the video's upload, March 22nd, 2024, viewers posted skeptical top comments, like one that read, "You playing with us or ??," which received over 15,600 likes in a week (shown below).

Later on March 22nd, TikToker^[2] @redcookie229 posted a follow-up video, responding to a comment that asked to see her date night look. The video received over 868,200 plays and 13,500 likes in a week (shown below).

On March 27th, 2024, X^[3] user @SomaKazima reposted the video to the new platform, writing, "When she showed her picture, I kinda understood 😭😭 this ain't serious," receiving over 10.4 million views and 37,000 likes in two days (shown below).

The tweet received viral quotes ^[4] and replies,^[5] paralleling discourse surfacing on TikTok via duets and stitches. For instance, on March 26th, TikToker^[6] @paralegal__ posted a video reacting to RedCookie229's story, gaining over 2.2 million plays and 216,200 likes in three days (shown below, left).

On March 28th, 2024, TikToker^[7] @itsrockyheaux posted a video in which she shared an "unpopular opinion," that RedCookie229 was not a catfish. Her video received over 1.4 million plays and 147,100 likes in a day (shown below, right).