By Alexandra Brewer | Arts & Life Intern
Baylor has recently found itself in the limelight due to a viral TikTok trend that’s been transforming bland dorm rooms into magazine-worthy showcases.
Videos of students’ fully decorated dorms have racked up millions of views, sparking national conversation surrounding college move-in culture and social media’s influence on Gen Z.
This trend, which recurs annually with move-in, is part of a larger wave of TikTok content celebrating aesthetically pleasing dorm spaces.
On TikTok, hashtags such as ‘#dormtok‘ and ‘#dormdecor‘ have received hundreds of millions of views. What sets Baylor apart, however, is the large surplus of videos emerging from the campus community and the creativity that students are pouring into their new homes.
From golden accents to wallpaper art, students aim to make their rooms appear as if they are straight out of a Pinterest board, according to New Braunfels freshman Linkynn Lunsford. A video of her South Russell dorm gained traction on TikTok and now has 12.5K views.
“We went on Pottery Barn and they had literally everything we were imagining,” she said.
League City freshman Alyssa Patterson is another freshman who also went viral for her post-move-in dorm results, at over 267K views. She said her South Russell room’s final look exceeded her initial expectations.
“I definitely would say that the wallpaper tied it all together,” Patterson said. “We got it from Amazon.”
Other places that students purchased their dorm decor from include Homegoods, Etsy, Target, and IKEA, Patterson said.
According to Lunsford, her TikTok has had overall positive responses.
“I’ve run into a lot of girls on campus, and they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I saw your dorm on TikTok. It’s so cute,’” she said.
However, some responses were less kind, Patterson said.
“Some people are like, ‘Why are your beds so tall?’ or ‘ This is so extra for a college dorm,’” she said. “One of my personal favorites was someone commenting, ‘It looks like you’re majoring in makeup.’ Posting on social media comes with the not-so-nice comments. I was prepared for that when I posted the video, especially once it started to get more traction.”
Beyond the viral attention and the aesthetics, Lunsford said the social media trend reflects a much deeper desire to create a greater sense of belonging in an unfamiliar place.
“I feel like we have our mini home,” she said.
