Best Friends 99% Of The Time

Submission 3,521

Part of a series on TikTok. [View Related Entries]

About

Best Friends 99% Of The Time or That 1% is a trend on TikTok where two friends, often of the same gender, show a platonic photo of themselves under the caption "us being best friends 99% of the time" then transitioning to footage of them kissing under the caption "but that 1%." The trend became popularized on TikTok in late March 2022 leading into April. It was notably criticized by some for fetishizing queer people.

Origin

On March 23rd, 2022, Russian TikToker^[1] @kstchnk__ posted a video where she and her friend dance under a caption that translates to, "We’re best friends 99% of that time." The video then cuts to footage of the two kissing under the text, "but that 1%." The video gained over 1.1 million views in two weeks (shown below). It is set to Miley Cyrus' song "23."

Spread

The trend spread over the course of the following weeks in late March and early April 2022. It is often performed by friends of the same sex, however, there are also videos of male and female best friends participating in it. For example, on April 1st, 2022, TikToker^[4] @user69083833369 posted a video following the trend with her female friend, gaining over 5 million views in a week (shown below, left). On April 4th, TikToker^[5] @josuefr_2.5 posted a video performing the trend with her male friend, gaining over 5.2 million views in four days (shown below, right).

Criticism

As the trend became popularized, some TikTokers called its participants out for fetishizing queer people. For example, on April 5th, 2022, TikToker^[2] @gayandsadasf posted a video where she calls out straight girls who do the trend for male attention, gaining over 13,000 views in three days (shown below).

Some TikTokers started creating bait-and-switch versions of the trend following the criticism. On April 6th, TikToker^[6] @notyourbubbe posted a version of the trend captioned "when will straight girls realize queerbaiting isn’t the serve they think it is" where it transitions to footage of the two friends on public transportation, gaining over 1.3 million views in two days (shown below, left). On the same day, TIkToker^[7] @hyp3be4stt posted a video criticizing the trend, gaining over 700,000 views in the same span of time (shown below, right). On April 7th, the Daily Dot^[3] published an article about the trend, highlighting how it's been criticized by some TikTokers for fetishizing queer people.