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In less than three months, the 87-year-old grandfather has a huge following on the video-sharing app, TikTok, despite the fact that most of its users are teenagers And for a long time, he had nothing of his growing fame, explains Chris Stokel-Walker.

The video summed up the despair felt many of the older members of the society. Joe Allington, of Lichfield, walked the aisles of his local supermarket, he saw in front of him.

He returned crestfallen, with no shopping.

That was before the government introduced strict social distance rules, and Allington began to isolate himself. He didn't really need to go shopping as he hit the to live with his daughter and her family for The Last four-and-a-half years, but the 14-second-long performance a nerve and was now More Than 42 million times viewed on the shortcode form video-sharing app, TikTok.

This is Allington the greatest success since he began publishing on TikTok three months ago, as Papa Joe. To his surprise, he picked up 1. 5 million followers on a platform in the rule, as the domain of young people.

"I don't think that old people usually consider TikTok very much," says Allington. "It's all young people - seven-eight year old. "

to thank As many of the older people, the encounter with smartphone apps for the First Time , he has his granddaughter.

Allington youngest granddaughter, Brooke, Paintain, 15 - an active TikToker with More Than 65,000 followers - First uploaded videos during the 2018 Christmas holidays, months after the app fused with lip-synchronization-platform Musical. ly.

"you do all these weird dances, the children TikTok, and tried the lip-sync," says Allington. He was not interested at this point. It was only in January of this year, he was finally persuaded to dance in a video.

Allington was also in one of Brooke's videos on 23 January As they pointed their followers to his TikTok profile, ask them to get him up to 10,000 followers.

Within three weeks, he had More Than 30,000.

"I don't know why I'm popular," he explains. "I've never been popular, such as the one in My Life . "

A gasoline tanker driver for decades, after leaving school at the Age Of 14 years, in the late 1940s, Allington dedicated work in transport management. He retired at the Age Of 65 years, and was The Family clown to his daughter, Wendy Paintain, 54, and his granddaughters.

If you suggested that he join TikTok, it was a natural fit. "I have found that my Second Childhood , you know," he says.

He combines high drama and sadness with a quirky side, so that light of serious situations. In one of The Videos in front of a green screened image of him lying in bed, after a severe Heart Attack in the year 2019.

another running theme of The Videos his obsession with Donuts is forbidden to eat his diet after his Heart Attack and his attempts at you.

There are also occasional references to The Pain of the loss of his wife, who passed away in 2009.

Allington says he has little posts to no involvement in The Videos he.

"Wendy forced me to do a little acting for The Videos that I have done, and it is," he says.

"I enjoy very much, made up, dressed, and made A Fool of. Wendy says: "dad, we do TikTok, we do so Today . 'Then I just do as I am told. I am very obedient, as you know. "

He will have virality, to nothing but dance challenges, one of the most important currencies of the TikTok. "I'm not my arms waving like that," he explains. "I can't do it!"

Because of its hands-off approach, Allington had no idea he was frightened to be an internet celebrity, as he was when Wendy told him that he had More Than a million followers.

Dancing with the oldest granddaughter, Sasha, before the lockdown

"says It's really amazing to think, there are so many people who know me as an old fool," he said.

None of his friends know about his success, either. Until he was forced to isolate himself and His Family Allington the week, went for meals with Them Two or Three Times , and take part in a karaoke-club, every Saturday Night . But they do not belong to the TikTok generation.

Allington is not the only lapse TikToker, though. There are, for example, a light-footed dancer with over 780,000 followers; and, an American grandmother, who combined comedy videos with the talk about a survivor of Domestic Violence .

Young TikTok users have a soft spot for grandparents, says Timothy Armoo of Fanbytes, an influencer marketing Agency that creates it TikTok stars.

"On the TikTok, if you have done something with your parents, maybe people think that is to cringe a bit," he says. "But if you did it with your managed grandparents, it is so incredible, her great-would know the parents, How To use, TikTok, the it is quite cool. "

Well, he has to know, to improve the app, Allington is to connect with people, he is not seen in isolation, the nine-year-old daughter of the bartender at his local club, for example, and.

But he also uses "FaceTime-and Houseparty, and so on," he says.

Many of Allington, The Last videos were the light of the coronavirus to make a forced quarantine.

seen One of those, 457,000 times, saw him to don Marigold for its government-mandated daily walk.

"It feeds Armoo also says in the whole of the coronavirus situation in which we find ourselves".

"now the people are in control of your grandparents, and a whole lot of video content with people taking care of their grandparents.

"grandpa Joe is pretty much the perfect embodiment of him. "

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viral posts, elderly people, tiktok, self-isolation, coronavirus pandemic, social distancing, social media

Source of news: bbc.com