One of the more confusing TikTok trends of late involves posting blank comments on people's videos. Let's just appreciate that this one is only weird, and isn't something dangerous or offensive.
There's a strange thing on the internet that people rarely discuss and that phenomenon is evident in this TikTok situation. The concept of FOMO (fear of missing out) is immediately understandable and we see it everywhere. In fact, it exists on TikTok as well, which is why the share feature makes sure to tell people on your other social platforms where the video they're watching was made. But the strange thing that's specific to the internet is a fear of not having information. It rears its head when things like the iOS 14 beta appear and people desperately want to know how to get it, for example.
In this case, that fear of not having information is driving people to speculate about how to leave a blank comment on TikTok. It's not a useful feature. It's not something that dictates a positive or negative interaction on the platform. It's just a thing some people know how to do, so not knowing how to do it sucks.
Armed with that information, TikTok users are posting videos (and comments) designed to irritate people who can't post blank comments. The divide between people who know how to do it and those who don't is currently fueling the trend. To make matters worse, smart TikTokers are posting videos about blank comments while using trending audio as well. Fortunately, it's a process that's easy to explain and it should be doable on all versions of the smartphone app.
How to Post Blank TikTok Comments
Blank TikTok comments are the result of what appears to be a bit of oversight in how comments work on the platform. When a speech-to-text comment is posted, the app will post whatever it picks up as text. If it picks up nothing, it will post nothing... but it will still post. So, to post a blank comment, you'll basically just take advantage of that.
Open the comments field on any TikTok video. Tap the microphone icon there, and be sure to activate microphone permissions and diction, if necessary. Wait a few seconds for the recording to look for speech, then use your phone's "back" function to close the recording out. You should be left with a blank comment field. Now, just tap the post icon and it should post a comment with no characters.