Extremely Online
The self-described oldest TikToker ever is trading in her mini-mic for the podcaster’s chair.
At a coffee shop in West Hollywood on a sunny Valentines Day morning, everybody knows Tinx.
I wanted to wear pink for Valentine’s Day, she says.
Like Dr. Fauci, Joe Exotic, and dalgona coffee, Tinxs fame is a quintessential 2020 success story.
I downloaded TikTok in quarantine, she says.
At the time, I was out of work.
I thought I was going to have to move home with my parents, and I was severely depressed.
Brought up on rom-coms, Tinx had always fantasized about a career working in womens magazines.
In its place was something else:the creator economy.
I knew I’d finally found my passion.
That was when I was almost 30, so it’s been a whirlwind year and a half.
Tinx isnt a regular influencer.
She took to TikTok like a businesswoman and became a Rich Mom.
What is Rich Mom, you ask?
(No, shes not a mom.
Shes currently single and dating around.
Shes not in a huge rush to procreate.)
Does Tinx now have it figured out?
I’m known for hyperspecific orders at all these different restaurants.
I have adessert at Craig’snamed after me.
I have asmoothie at Erewhon.
I have my Chipotle order.
It’s because I don’t want anyone to waste their time.
Pay attention to what hes doing, not what hes saying.
If a guy really wants to meet up with you, he will do anything to make it happen.
Thats just your preference.
If this sounds like TikTok for traditionalists, Tinx has her own areas where shes a radical.
I’ve dated a lot, and I really think that dating needs a rebrand.
Dating has a bad reputation as difficult, stressful, and unfulfilling.
She wants to change that.
Dating can also be self-exploration, not just a transactional path to a specific ending (marriage).
To find out what you like, you have to see what you dont, she says.
They’re like, This is what I must do to get a husband.
She calls this future tripping, fantasizing.
Everyone needs to just slow their roll, emotionally.
Its a numbers game and you have to go on dates.
It’s become a massive validation tool, especially for men.
Half the time they don’t even want to meet up with you.
Like Cooper, she has her own glossary of terms for navigating these challenges.
Theresboyfriend sickness,when a friend disappears into a relationship and stops hanging out.
No one is immune to boyfriend sickness (which can apply to relationships beyond heterosexuality as well).
Tinx knows that she may not always take her own advice.
Its aspirational for her too, to get better at dating and not keep making the same mistakes.
I was super in love with him, she says.
I will kill him, I tell her.
This made Tinx reconsider being so vulnerable online.
But I just felt like I just need to keep one thing for myself.
A lot of people are really different on the internet.
I mean, that’s a funny thing about living in LA, she says.
Actually, I feel like a lot of internet creators are way quieter in person.
They have a TikTok persona or a YouTube persona and then they’re totally different.
Tinx values being the same in person here in West Hollywood as she is online.
This is what SiriusXM sees in her, too.
But the show that Tinx is doing is about her.
I think she has the potential for a real multi-generational audience.
In the meantime, Tinx is still looking for love.
I don’t like guys who take themselves too seriously, she says.
Be ambitious, definitely be passionate, be hard working.
They also have to be able to keep the banter going in real life.
I like goofy people.
Silliness is very important.
Photographer: Justin J Wee
