Here’s Why Everyone’s Talking About the Okie Boomer Girl from TikTok

Another day, another TikTok controversy — we’re all used to this pattern by now, right? This time the controversy centers around a character known as Okie Boomer Girl. The internet is split into two camps regarding her right now. Some are basically obsessed with her, while others think her video is super cringey. Ready to decide for yourself what side you’re on? Here’s what you need to know about the ‘OK Boomer’ girl on TikTok.

And it’s pretty obvious why. On March 2, 2020, TikTok user @neekolul uploaded a video of her dancing around wearing a Bernie 2020 T-shirt. The caption read, “Like to trigger the BOOMERS #bernie2020.”

And she’s not just dancing to any song. She’s dancing to a song called “Oki Doki Boomer” that’s also gone viral recently  (more on that in a second). @neekolul also uploaded the video to Twitter where it was viewed at least 6 million times before ultimately being removed due to a copyright claim. But it still lives on in the TikTok feed (as well as in the minds of everyone who watched it).

On Dec. 14, 2019, YouTuber Senzawa uploaded a video featuring an anime girl dancing to the “Oki Doki Boomer” song. Only a few weeks later, the song made the jump to TikTok. Several users started using the song in the background of videos defending their fashion choices to older people. (In case you’re not already familiar with the “OK, Boomer” meme, it’s Gen Z’s favorite way to dunk on members of the Baby Boomer generation.)

@neekolul obviously wasn’t the first person to use the “Oki Doki Boomer” song on TikTok. There are more than 1,700 videos with the “okie dokie boomer” tag. But hers was definitely the one that took the internet by storm. Almost immediately after she shared her video on TikTok and Twitter, people had their opinions about the Okie Boomer Girl. And as with most viral TikTok videos, the opinions were split between thinking the Okie Boomer Girl is a hero and thinking she’s cringey as heck.

As @neekolul’s video became more and more popular, people became more comfortable sharing their opinions online. @neekolul didn’t seem to mind too much — she even started retweeting people’s responses to her viral video. She also posted another TikTok video of her dancing, this time to Mariah Carey’s “Obsessed.” So yeah, it’s safe to say that she knows she’s gone viral.

Actually, scrolling through the OK Boomer Girl’s TikTok feed reveals that basically every one of her videos features her dancing. The “Okie Boomer” vid is just the first one that skyrocketed into virality, probably at least in part due to its political ties. 

(And before anyone tries to point out the irony of a teen mocking Baby Boomers while wearing a shirt promoting one of them, you should probably know that Bernie Sanders technically isn’t a Boomer — he was born in 1941, which is just a few years before the Boomers came on the scene in 1946.) Anyway, that’s why everyone’s tweeting about the OK Boomer Girl right now. Aren’t you glad you know?