Pass Me The Tiny Mic (So I Can Throw It In The Trash)

After an evening out with friends in London, Laura*, 21, was looking for a bite to eat. It was getting dark when a man jumped out at the group on the sidewalk. She was startled. “Being approached by men at night usually means it’ll be something unpleasant,” she says, recalling he said something like “Hey ladies, what’s your biggest ick?” while aiming a tiny microphone in her direction. Another man was filming the group with an iPhone. Laura continued walking and replied, “This.”

Although the video featuring Laura and her friends hasn’t yet reached the TikTok FYP (“Probably because I didn’t play along,” she thinks), similar content using the comically small prop is rampant on the platform. The hashtags #tinymic and #tinymicinterview have 200 million and 12 million views, respectively. But like most other TikTok trends that were once quirky and niche, the tiny mic is now overplayed.

Sometimes, these videos take a “man on the street” approach with an interviewer pointing a miniature microphone at people while asking questions, like what happened to Laura. Or the videos take on a Tinx-style nature with the creator looking into the camera speaking their truth. Consider the tiny mic the modern-day equivalent of a soapbox. The trend has even made its way offline to movie premieres and celebrity interviews.

“It feels like bargain basement when I walk up and all of a sudden someone hands me a tiny mic.”

Dayna Roselli, co-owner of Insightful Media, a company offering broadcast expertise to brands, and co-host of the Vegas Revealed podcast, has worked in on-air journalism for more than 20 years and says tiny mic videos featuring A-listers are particularly irksome. “I saw Brad Pitt on a red carpet and [an outlet] made him hold the tiny mic, and I was like, ‘No, this can’t be happening,’” she tells Bustle. “The whole thing bothered me.” She posted a TikTok in March calling it the social media trend that pisses her off most.

Co-owner and co-host Sean McAllister notes there are so many ways around using a too-small mic. “Use a stick mic, use a shotgun mic, or use a lav mic. There are lots of other microphone options out there!” he says.

Tiny mics reached a heyday in 2020 and 2021 after many people finally caved, downloaded TikTok, and started sharing what they had to say. The trend can at least partially be attributed to Tinx, the influencer known for giving advice online. She was arguably one of the biggest tiny mic creators at this time, and in September 2020, she replied to a comment urging her to clip the mic on instead of holding it. Her response? “It’s just not the vibe. My mini mic is like my child now.” She made it her shtick, launching a wave of copycats. (She records her podcast, It’s Me, Tinx, with normal-size microphones.)

And when any trend reaches a fever pitch across TikTok, it won’t be long until brands and other blue checkmark accounts try to capitalize on it. For a trend that became a funny bit by Gen Z creators following in Tinx’s footsteps, there may be nothing more cringe than a verified account trying to get in on the joke.

To some, though, there is still a time and a place for this content — but only if the content is engaging enough without the teensy accessory. Kylee Roman, a radio host turned full-time TikTok creator, started as a hater of the trend because of its low audio quality but now actually enjoys it since it’s no longer only thing on her FYP. “It’s like how people put on lip gloss while they’re storytelling now,” she says. “It’s another piece of the puzzle that draws somebody in.”

While it may be fine for strictly silly content, Roselli and McAllister think the use of tiny mics by real news outlets brings down their credibility. Summing up thoughts from her friend who frequents red carpets, Roselli says, “It feels like bargain basement when I walk up and all of a sudden someone hands me a tiny mic.” McAllister says, “The cord is never long enough, and the tiny mic is just being held out there. It looks awkward and dumb. The tiny mic needs to die.”

Perhaps, though, there is still hope for tiny mic content, as long as it doesn’t try to cross over from enjoyable clips to reputable journalism. It’s up to viewers to be able to take any information being labeled as “news” or “dating advice” from a tiny mic user with a grain of salt — those $9 mics could never replace years of broadcast experience or a certification in a specialized field. That may be a lot to ask when the United States ranks 15 out of 44 studied countries in media literacy, according to Media Literary Now, and fact-checking policies on TikTok are still evolving.

Whether or not the mini mic trend is officially dead isn’t up to any individual, but rather the elusive TikTok algorithm. One day, the FYP will no longer favor creators who approach people with tiny microphones. Then, there may be a new algorithm-approved prop — maybe one of those echo mics from our childhoods or a hand puppet — that creators can use as their new vehicle to virality. Maybe then we will all be free from these microphones’ minuscule clutches.

*Name has been changed