VERA LOPRESTI✴︎ 11.19.2025

When I lived in Miami my For You Page used to be flooded with John Summit videos and new coffee shop recommendations. Even though DJ edits still pop up here and there, when I came to Rome I began getting “study abroad in Rome” TikToks all over my FYP. The same cashmere Intimissimi top on every single girl, Cafe Marcel as the top souvenir shop recommendation, and fun night recommendations like watching the stars at Monte Ciccio. I then realized TikTok had built a “study abroad in Rome persona” and I was falling part of it.

TREND BUBBLES = FILTER BUBBLES

#PinkPilatesPrincess , #AloPilatesMatcha , #GymBro , #GymRat ,  you have probably seen at least one of those hashtags showing up on your feed this past year. But did you know, these “wellness aesthetics” or “trends” are also filter bubbles? 

All of our feeds are personalized… Information collected from search history, online shopping, other platforms, privacy settings, and details when signing up online, is used to build your algorithm. The scary thing about algorithms is that computer programs within the app you are using, filter the stuff shown on your feed. If you decide to only see content from accounts with the same interests or beliefs as you, that’s how you fall onto filter bubbles, meaning only a tiny selection of content online is shown to the viewer. Which is meant to be content they would most likely agree with based on prior likes, shares, comments, etc.

“Being trapped in a filter bubble makes it seem like the internet is reacting in just one way, whereas there are always different points of view,“ (BBC).

Trends helps us “speak” without talking. They allow us to show our values, our tastes, our public persona, our cultural belonging – all through what we wear, buy, or share.

Alo, Pilates, Matcha: The TikTok “It Girl” Aesthetic

Vogue Business studied the “Pink Pilates Princess” hashtag from 2024, (now more known as Alo, Pilates, Matcha) where it showed how TikTok blew up an aesthetic into a lifestyle. Creators and consumers approached a new and healthier life with things like hot girl walks, reformer pilates, and matcha runs. Content fitting this aesthetic landed on many young adults For You Pages, hoping they would join the “trend.”   

Brands caught on to the economic impact lifestyle trends formed on TikTok can have on them. Lululemon and Alo, have been focusing on workout lines for “low impact workouts” including Yoga and Pilates. Lululemon even created and used the #PinkLululemon to promote their “Strawberry Milkshake Collection” and were one of the fastest-growing hashtags in October 2024. Alo, started posting TikToks of influencers like Jake Shane, Tate McRae, Madeline Argy, Discolines, alongside others, and doing reformer pilates and crossfit exercise in their LA Gym.  

The Importance of Breaking Out of YOUR FYP

Algorithms and filter bubbles show viewers content they expect to like, and mimic. For example, I saw a video recommending Osteria Da Fortunata and I decided to go try it. Or I saw a video talking about the best trips from Rome to Florence and Venice, and booked my train tickets. Viewers just have to be careful not falling into a filter bubble, and understanding most trends are little filter bubbles.

Works Cited

Angelia. “Trapped in TikTok’s Bubble: How the Algorithm Shapes What We See.” Medium, 24 Sept. 2025, medium.com/@ichikorio/trapped-in-tiktoks-bubble-how-the-algorithm-shapes-what-we-see-b02a5a198196. Accessed 19 Nov. 2025.

Chinyanganya, Radzi. “How Algorithms and Filter Bubbles Decide What We See on Social Media.” BBC Bitesize, 2024, http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zd9tt39.

Hern, Alex. “How TikTok’s Algorithm Made It a Success: ‘It Pushes the Boundaries.’” The Guardian, 24 Oct. 2022, http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/oct/23/tiktok-rise-algorithm-popularity.

Maguire, Lucy. “Why the Pink Pilates Princess Is Actually a Key Consumer Group.” Vogue, 20 Dec. 2024, http://www.vogue.com/article/why-the-pink-pilates-princess-is-actually-a-key-consumer-group.

TikTok. “How Do Trends Start on TikTok?” Ads.tiktok.com, 2025, ads.tiktok.com/business/creativecenter/trends/home/pc/en.