Cat Selfie Filter

About

Cat Selfie Filter refers to a filter on Snapchat and TikTok that places an image of a cat with its arms outstretched as if taking a selfie on a camera. Users can change the cat shown by tapping the screen. The filter was added to Snapchat in 2019 and TikTok in 2022, going viral on TikTok that year as users made "tap to the beat" videos using the filter where users tap along to the beat of Eminem's "Godzilla" or simply tap as fast as they can to rapidly swap through the cats.

Origin

On March 7th, 2019, LensesForSnap^[1] published an article linking to a filter that places an orange cat in a selfie position over your camera. When used, the filter makes it look like the user is taking a selfie with the cat.

A similar filter called "CAT SELFIE" was added to TikTok on an unknown date. In March 2022 it became popularized in "tap to the beat" challenge videos where users are challenged to tap the screen to the beat of a song, each tap changing the cat. Some videos challenge users to simply tap as fast as possible. On February 14th, 2022, TikToker @xcxx..dx posted one of the earliest known videos doing this to the song "Yahhh!" by Soulja Boy, gaining over 811,000 views in a month (shown below).

Spread

The trend continued under the unofficial original sound^[2] for "Yahhh!" over the course of the month. On March 7th, 2022, TikToker @t__tjk posted a video where they tap the filter to the beat of "Godzilla" by Eminem, gaining over 369,000 views in 10 days (shown below).

The trend grew increasingly popular over the course of the month and inspired a variety of influencers and well-known TikTokers to follow the trend, often stating why they believe they can tap the fastest in the video. On March 13th, TikToker @chris_thememegod posted a video doing the trend, gaining over 8 million views in four days (shown below, left). On March 15th, musician Charlie Puth posted a video to TikTok following the trend, gaining over 8.6 million views in two days (shown below, right).

On March 15th, Minecraft YouTuber Tommyinnit posted a video to TikTok doing the trend, gaining over 5 million views in two days (shown below, left). On March 16th, Ninja posted a video to TikTok jokingly following the trend, gaining over 12 million views in a day (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References