On January 7, 2021, “Hype House”, a new reality TV series featuring famous Tik Tok stars and influencers living together and creating content, was released on Netflix with an eight-episode summary of the members’ pasts, current dramas, and future plans. The series also mentions why the Hype House came to an end.

When Netflix announced the series on April 12, 2021, it caught the attention of fans who know these social media influencers and mainly surprised the fans and the stars’ other viewers. The members of the house have different kinds of fanbases, but the majority of all of their fans tend to fall into the age range of younger children who have access to Tik Tok.

“The Hype House is like a social media collective that is also kind of like an incubator. We’ve launched people like Charli, Dixie, and Addison,” 23-year-old Thomas Petrou said in the first episode of the series. 

Petrou refers to Charli Damelio, Dixie Damelio, and Addison Rae, highly famous Tik Tok stars, who all joined the Hype House around 2019. Later on, in the first episode he goes on to mention several other known Tik Tokers like Lil Huddy (Chase Hudson), Vinnie Hacker, Alex Warren, and others.

“Being a part of this brand really helped blow everyone up,” Petrou said.

Throughout the first couple of episodes, viewers learn the truth about the stars’ pasts and the difficulty of their childhoods, as well as how they got their starts on Tik Tok and how they made it to the Hype House. Viewers also see the ups and downs of living in the house, or living away from the house yet still remaining a member, and what each member must do in order to become involved with the house. Quickly, certain opinions about the lifestyles and careers of the members arise, which then leads to controversy in the group and drama.  

In the early episodes of the series, the drama seemed possibly fake and scripted, rather than natural and realistic, but throughtout the series, the nurturing of the members’ friendships intrigued viewers. The members’ dialogue made viewers want to know more about the relationships and conversations of topics between the members.

“I always thought, and kinda knew, that there was some drama going on in the house and about the members, but I had no idea that their problems came out of nowhere and were caused so easily,” freshman Josie Barszcz said.

Social media houses became a popular thing around 2016 when Jake Paul launched a successful group account on YouTube, Team Ten. This group got recognized for its vlogs, pranks, music, talent, and drama. At one point or another, major controversies between members and other social media stars, random people, and even in the group itself emerged. Countless numbers of members would come and go, or even soon involve themselves with people the group had problems with, much like the Hype House.

Revealed at the end of the show, the Hype House would soon no longer remain a group, but instead a memory. Petrou posted a video on his personal YouTube account, the day after the “Hype House” dropped, explaining how he has received hate for past drama involving members of the house over the last couple of years, he always tried to help the members with anything, and feels as though he truly helped introduce certain members into the spotlight, and loved the members of the house, yet felt like multiple members  took advantage of him.

Ultimately, the series did a fine job of showing the behind-the-scenes process of how to create content as a Tik Toker, and showing the life of a social media star. It shows how all of the members of one group can have similar and different backgrounds, yet end up in the same place and can still constantly head in different ways. It realistically portrays what happens when a bunch of creators wound up together.

The Chant Grade: B+