Sad TikTok Slideshows / Sad Slideshow Audios

Submission 4,904

Part of a series on TikTok Photo Slideshows / Photo Mode. [View Related Entries]

About

Sad TikTok Slideshows and Sad Slideshow Audios, also known as Depressing Slideshow Audios, Depressing TikTok Slideshows or Sad TikTok Photo Swipes, refers to a trend on TikTok in which creators make depressing sounds in CapCut using demotivational soundbites, clips and music so that others can use it to make a photo slideshow that romanticizes depression, loneliness, mental illness and suffering. The slideshows became a cliché on the platform as people either found them cringy or relatable and made parodies of them that used more obtuse or aggressive clips and soundbites. Phrases like Slideshows Boutta Go Crazy or Slideshows Gonna Be Crazy started trending in anticipation of the sound's usage by depressed others. Most of the sounds use the song "Inside Out" by Duster, however, many say that the trend started in late 2021 with the song "12 Stout Street" by RX Papi and Gud.

Origin

On December 20th, 2021, TikToker^[1] sheisty_4 posted a depressing edit with the song "12 Stout Street" by RX Papi and Gud, originally released on November 18th, 2021, as a part of the album Foreign Exchange.^[2] The video received roughly 1.2 million plays and 127,300 likes in one year (shown below, left). The video inspired mass usage going into early 2022. For instance, on February 20th, 2022, TikToker^[3] painn3ver3nds made a similar edit with the sound, earning roughly 431,000 plays and 57,200 likes in ten months (shown below, right).

Around the same time, on February 27th, 2022, TikToker^[4] jquote.s posted a video that added a depressing Markiplier clip in which he says that he feels lost before the song "My Kind of Woman" by Mac DeMarco plays, earning roughly 886,200 plays and 140,200 likes in ten months (shown below, left). In the early months of 2022, users started making slideshows with the two aforementioned audios, predominantly starting in April 2022. For instance, on April 16th, 2022, TikToker^[5] 24hrs_m posted a video slideshow of various depressing memes with TikToker^[4] jquote.s' sound. The TikTok received roughly 1.1 million plays and 182,500 likes in eight months and is currently the first known sad slideshow on the app (shown below, right).

On April 27th, 2022, TikToker^[6] sillywilly833 posted a TikTok using the "Photo Mode" feature and RX Papi's "12 Stout Street" as the sound, starting the slideshow with the Stop Giving Me Your Toughest Battles meme. The slideshow received roughly 366,700 plays and 58,100 likes in eight months and is currently the first known sad slideshow on the app to use the "Photo Mode" feature.

Spread

Going into May 2022, the concept of "sad slideshows" and their sad audios started to become a cliché and a notable reference for comedic expoitation. For instance, on May 3rd, 2022, TikToker^[7] gotoutfoxed posted a video using "12 Stout Street" by RX Papi with text overlay reading, "POV: Me scrolling through the most depressing, unsettling meme slideshows you've ever seen under this sound and commenting 'real.'" The video received roughly 341,500 plays and 68,700 likes in seven months (shown below, left). On May 9th, 2022, TIkToker^[8] zzacamarshall posted a similar video with text overlay reading, "yk it's bad when u have these slideshows on your fyp," earning roughly 1.2 million plays and 211,000 likes in seven months (shown below, right).

Going into late 2022, multiple sad TikTok slideshow audios surfaced on the app. For instance, on June 1st, 2022, TikToker^[9] ihatepi0 posted the first-known sad slideshow to use the song "Inside Out" by Duster,^[15] starting the slideshow with a meme using The Bowler template (shown below, left) and earning roughly 80,300 likes in six months. On June 12th, 2022, TikToker^[10] 1want2cu2 also posted a slideshow with the song "Inside Out" and used multiple Couple Texting in Bed memes (example shown below, right). In six months, the slideshow earned roughly 251,400 plays and 42,200 likes.

Sad audios were then specifically made for slideshow purposes in September 2022. For instance, the first known to reference the trend outright was uploaded on September 12th, 2022, TikToker^[11] coolkid3007 and used Duster's "Inside Out" with a Family Guy clip of Glenn Quagmire, earning roughly 1.2 million plays and 150,000 likes in three months (shown below, left). On September 17th, 2022, TiKToker^[12] sad_beean posted another audio, using a clip from Bojack Horseman and gained roughly 245,300 plays and 19,900 likes in three months (shown below, right).

The audios became increasingly obtuse and self-referential going into late 2022. For instance, on October 11th, 2022, TikToker^[13] gothamgoon used a soundbite from FaZe Clan member Jaze raging and saying, "Oh my fucking God!" The video received roughly 1.3 million plays and 154,300 likes in two months (shown below, left). On November 17th, 2022, TikToker^[14] austri._ used a video of man learning about Brian Griffin's death with Duster's "Inside Out," writing in text overlay, "the slideshow business boutta be boomin." Over the course of 15 days, the video received roughly 809,300 plays and 170,600 likes (shown below, right).

Additionally, TikToker frank.day started to post reviews of each depressing slideshow audio on the app, starting with a TikTok^[16] uploaded on October 17th, 2022, that received roughly 2.1 million plays and 374,600 likes in two months (shown below).