TikTok has become a powerful platform for young people, allowing them to share their experiences, support mental health, and grow their businesses. When Jennifer Le (@jennif3rle) faced family financial struggles, she turned to TikTok for help. Her heartfelt video resonated with millions, who rallied to support her family.
Representative Image Source: TikTok app's logo (Photo illustration by Chesnot/Getty Images)
A grad student in Southern California, Jennifer posted this seven-second clip in January 2023. In the clip, the camera pans around the restaurant’s interiors showing empty tables as her father stands at the counter, his hands folded atop the countertop, while he’s staring in the distance. "It makes me so sad to see my parents just wait for customers to walk through their door to eat at the Vietnamese restaurant," Jennifer wrote in the video’s overlay text. Jennifer’s parents own a restaurant called “Lee’s Noodle House,” where her mom, Ha Tran, cooks most of the meals while her father, Vuong Le, takes care of the groceries and catering.
Representative Image Source: Pexels | Chan Walrus
Lee’s Noodle House opened in 2003. The restaurant was up and running for several years until the ferocious 2020 pandemic struck the world. The pandemic, Vuong Le told The Press Democrat, affected nearly everything, closing down shutters in Sonoma County, and restaurants were particularly crippled. “Before the pandemic, it was really, really busy,” Jennifer said. “Back in 2018, 2019, but right now when COVID hit, it was dead silent.”
Representative Image Source: Pexels | Thomas Balabaud
When even after the pandemic had passed and the restaurant remained empty, Jennifer took the matter into her own hands and pleaded to TikTokers to spread the word. “TikTok, do your thing and help support my parents’ Vietnamese restaurant. My parents haven’t had that many customers and have been feeling stressed dealing with financial issues. If you want to check it out, they make delicious Vietnamese food. 1010 Hopper Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95403,” she wrote in the video caption.
Representative Image Source: TikTok logo (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
Describing what prompted her to post this TikTok, she told Good Morning America, "At that moment, I just kind of recorded the video to reach out to people and see if I could make a change," and added, "And for people to know about the restaurant so if they're ever in the area, they know to come check it out."
Image Source: TikTok | @tizo_classic
The video quickly became widespread garnering more than 900,000 views in less than a day. Currently, it has over 1.7 million views and more than 4,000 shares. “My coworkers and I used to go there for lunch twice a week we love this place and now my kids love to go there,” commented @kitty_kat2600. @_suuumiii_ added, “My family has been going there since before I can remember. We always love the food and I remember all the huge family meals we would have there.” Those who lived far away commented on “algorithm boost.” People were flocking from everywhere with suggestions like “Keep making more videos,” “Show off the food,” and “Use more hashtags,” to support her family business.
Image Source: TikTok | @user1191306164701
The post not only started attracting more customers to the restaurant, but tons of people displayed enormous gestures of support towards them. When Erika Altes (@whiskeyandlace) saw Jennifer's TikTok, she urged her over 100,000 Instagram followers to support the restaurant, according to CBS News. Another Instagrammer, @sonomacoguide, saw Erika’s post and headed to the restaurant and reviewed some of its meals like shrimp egg rolls, chowmein, pho, and vermicelli. @ladyironchef recommended the restaurant’s beef brisket noodles and fish balls to her followers. The situation was slowly changing.
"I was just in shock because it just kept consistently going up. I posted it when I woke up and then I left it alone, and when I checked back three days later, it was blowing up,” Jennifer recalled, speaking to Good Morning America. The support was so outpouring that orders rushed in fast and they had to post a notice asking customers to wait. Jennifer said, "My parents are really grateful for all the support." She even traveled back to Santa Rosa for two weeks to assist her parents.
Since many people suggested she post more “food” videos, Jennifer has been posting shots and clips of the meals from the restaurant. She even uploaded a follow-up video in which she shared her recommended dishes from Lee’s Noodle House, including the Bánh Mì pork sandwich, which she said, is her personal favorite, and that costs just $6.95. "The power of social media is, like, insane," she told CBS News.
Follow Jennifer Le on TikTok and her family restaurant Lee's Noodle House on Instagram.
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Why do some folks use social media but don't engage?
Psychologist says people who never comment on social media share these 5 positive traits
For over 20 years, social media has developed into a staple in many people’s day-to-day lives. Whether it’s to keep in communication with friends and family, following the thoughts of celebrities, or watching cat videos while sipping your morning coffee, there seem to be two types of social media users: commenters and lurkers.
The term “lurker” sounds equally mysterious and insidious, with some social media users writing them off as non-participants at best or voyeurs at worst. However, mindfulness expert Lachlan Brown believes these non-commenters have some very psychologically positive and healthy traits. Let’s take a look at how each one of these traits could be beneficial and see how fruitful lurking might be even though it can drive content creators crazy.
1. Cautious about vulnerability
Consciously or not, making a post online or commenting on one puts you and your words out there. It’s a statement that everyone can see, even if it’s as simple as clicking “like.” Doing so opens yourself up to judgment, with all the good, bad, and potential misinterpretation that comes with it. Non-commenters would rather not open themselves up to that.
These silent users are connected to a concept of self-protection by simply not engaging. By just scrolling past posts or just reading/watching them without commentary, they’re preventing themselves from any downsides of sharing an opinion such as rejection, misunderstanding, or embarrassment. They also have more control on how much of themselves they’re willing to reveal to the general public, and tend to be more open face-to-face or during one-on-one/one-on-few private chats or DMs. This can be seen as a healthy boundary and prevents unnecessary exposure.
Considering many comment sections, especially involving political topics, are meant to stir negative emotional responses to increase engagement, being extra mindful about where, when, and what you comment might not be a bad idea. They might not even take the engagement bait at all. Or if they see a friend of theirs post something vulnerable, they feel more motivated to engage with them personally one-on-one rather than use social media to publicly check in on them.
2. Analytical and reflective mindset
How many times have you gone onto Reddit, YouTube, or any other site and just skimmed past comments that are just different versions of “yes, and,” “no, but,” or “yes, but”? Or the ever insightful, formerly popular comment “First!” in a thread? These silent browsers lean against adding to such noise unless they have some valid and thoughtful contribution (if they bother to comment period).
These non-posters are likely wired on reflective thinking rather than their initial intuition. Not to say that all those who comment aren’t thoughtful, but many tend to react quickly and comment based on their initial feelings rather than absorbing the information, thinking it over, researching or testing their belief, and then posting it. For "lurkers," it could by their very nature to just do all of that and not post it at all, or share their thoughts and findings privately with a friend. All in all, it’s a preference of substance over speed.
3. High sense of self-awareness
Carried over from the first two listed traits, these silent social media users incorporate their concern over their vulnerability and their reflective mindset into digital self-awareness. They know what triggers responses out of them and what causes them to engage in impulsive behavior. It could be that they have engaged with a troll in the past and felt foolish. Or that they just felt sad after a post or got into an unnecessary argument that impacted them offline. By knowing themselves and seeing what’s being discussed, they choose to weigh their words carefully or just not participate at all. It’s a form of self-preservation through restraint.
4. Prefer to observe rather than perform
Some folks treat social media as information, entertainment, or a mix of both, and commenting can feel like they’re yelling at the TV, clapping alone in a movie theater when the credits roll, or yelling “That’s not true!” to a news anchor that will never hear them. But contrary to that, social media is a place where those yells, claps, and accusations can be seen and get a response. By its design, social media is considered by experts and the media as performative, regardless of whether it is positive or negative. Taking all of the previously mentioned traits into account, one can see why they would prefer to “observe the play” rather than get up on the stage of Facebook or X.
On top of that, these non-commenters could be using social media differently than those who choose to fully engage with it. Using this type of navigation, there may be nothing for them to comment about. Some commenters are even vying for this for their mental health. There are articles about how to better curate your social media feeds and manipulate algorithms to create a better social media experience to avoid unnecessary conflict or mentally tiring debate.
If you go on a blocking spree on all of your accounts and just follow the posters that boost you, it could turn your social media into a nice part of your routine as you mainly engage with others face-to-face or privately. In terms of commenting, if your curated Instagram is just following cute dogs and all you have to offer for a comment is “cute dog,” you might just enjoy the picture and then move on with your day rather than join in the noise. These non-commenters aren’t in the show and they’re fine with it.
5. Less motivated by social validation
The last trait that Brown showcases is that social media users who browse without posting tend to be independent from external validation, at least online. Social media is built to grow through feedback loops such as awarding likes, shares, and reposts of your content along with notifications letting you know that a new person follows you or wants to connect. This can lead many people to connect their activity on social media with their sense of self worth, especially with adolescents who are still figuring out their place in the world and have still-developing brains.
Engaging in social media via likes, shares, comments, and posts rewards our brains by having them release dopamine, which makes us feel good and can easily become addictive. For whatever reason, non-commenters don’t rely on social media as a means to gauge their social capital or self worth. This doesn’t make them better than those who do. While some non-commenters could have healthier ways to boost their self worth or release dopamine into their systems, many get that validation from equally unhealthy sources offline. That said, many non-commenters’ silence could be a display of independence and self confidence.
Whether you frequently comment online or don’t, it’s good to understand why you do or don’t. Analyzing your habits can help you determine whether your online engagement is healthy, or needs to be tweaked. With that information, you can then create a healthy social media experience that works for you.