First-year Pepperdine law student Hasley Pitman, is now a TikTok sensation with her two teenage sisters after one of their dancing videos went viral during quarantine with 6 million views. They now have over 2.3 million followers on TikTok.
Similar to other Pepperdine TikTok creators, Hasley, 23, Hope, 18, and Halle, 16, also known as The Pitman Sisters, started posting videos after their mom told them it would be fun since they were all stuck at home in Jacksonville, Florida.
After graduating from the University of Florida, Hasley Pitman remotely began as a student at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law in Fall 2020. She said she was grateful her two sisters were also at home for quarantine, though now both are back to in-person classes; Hope Pitman at Bishop Kenny High School and Halle Pitman at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. Hasley Pitman said they were not trying to go viral and were surprised to see how many viewers enjoy their first video.
“We had like one or two [videos] hit a million in a few hours from that point and we were like, “Oh my gosh, like no way,’ kind of thing,” Hasley Pitman said. “We just kept going and it’s just been a crazy experience ever since.”
They said this experience has positively strengthened their bond and given them the opportunity to collaborate with others. But they have also experienced negative impacts of the app, including hateful comments.
Incorporating dance in their lives and their support system
While they post dancing videos, only Halle Pitman is a competitive dancer. Hasley Pitman said Halle Pitman became their dance teacher. Both Hasley and Hope Pitman took some dance classes as young girls, but Hope Pitman said the classes are not helping her now.
“I actually played softball my whole life so dancing was definitely kind of out of my element, but I had to learn pretty quick,” Hope Pitman said. “I would say I have done pretty well keeping up I think, personally, but yeah I’ve loved it so far.”
As they grew on TikTok, they collaborated with other creators such as the Wright brothers – Jack and James Wright – and Addison Rae. Hasley Pitman said collaborating with them has led to new friendships.
“So getting to be with them was just super helpful and you know they were always offering just like tips, or like willing to hang out with us,” Hasley Pitman said. “Now they’re not even just like collabs it’s just more like friendships, which is really fun.”
One of their most viewed TikToks with nearly 45 millions views, was a sponsored video for the nail polish company, Essie, part of the company’s challenge #exprESSIEyourself.
Despite their large following on the app, they said they do not consider themselves influencers.
“I think it was like some like unattainable reality to be where we are now,” Halle Pitman said. “So like trying to see us as influencers is like, in our eyes, like really weird and like we don’t see ourselves that way. But I think we do definitely influence some people like at the end of the day, with our followers and audience.”
How TikTok and the pandemic changed their lives
Hasley Pitman said posting during the pandemic has been a bonding experience for them.
“I no longer look at them as like my annoying little sisters like they really just are my best friends,” Hasley Pitman said. “Whether I’m laughing and smiling with them or wanting to scream at them at the same time, we really have grown closer.”
She said the TikTok process was foreign to them, so it is nice to have two people to go through this journey with. Hope Pitman said she has relied on her sisters as their account continues to grow.
“I started TikTok at kind of like a point in my life, where I just kind of didn’t have [a] lot of confidence in myself,” Hope Pitman said. “So, like standing in front of a camera at first was very scary and so having them at first it was like a crutch, you know, I can do this with them.”
Hateful comments and addiction on TikTok
As TikTok creators, the Pitman Sisters have to deal with negative comments. Hasley Pitman said even though there may be hundreds of comments, people assume they will not read the hurtful ones. Hope Pitman said it is hard to deal with them at first.
“But sometimes you kind of have to remember that the person who just commented on your video doesn’t know anything about you,” Hope Pitman said. “They don’t even probably know which sister you are in the video.”
In addition to dealing with hateful comments, many TikTok users expect creators to constantly post. Hope Pitman said they are trying as hard as they can to put out the best content. She said they each have different schedules and it can be difficult to find a time they can all film videos together.
“And if we don’t post one day it’s not because we’re lazy and we’re having a bad day,” Hope Pitman said. “It’s because we already had filmed for six hours on a Sunday and we just couldn’t find one more dance to do, you know, like we’re trying as hard as we can to please our followers.”
The impact of TikTok on them and their audience
Hasley Pitman said it is a nice break to film with her sisters after sitting in her bedroom all day doing school. She said they all enjoy finding time to film together, even if it means filming multiple videos at once to get through posting for a few days.
Hope Pitman said finding time to film together can feel like a chore sometimes, but TikTok is one of the things that makes her happy.
“It’s kind of fun, you know I feel like I’m living this double life sometimes,” Hope Pitman said.
Halle Pitman said their parents are very supportive of their TikTok careers and are their biggest fans, especially as they already consider their mom to be a “dance mom.”
“They’re also like a reality check, I would say,” Hope Pitman said. “Like on days where we don’t want to film, or we’re maybe arguing like sisters, they’re like well, you have to post, like y’all have to film, whether you want to or not. And just like you know … we are family, we need to come together and we need to put out some good content.”
Halle Pitman said TikTok was something to look forward to in this dark time. She said it was a light that spread happiness to others, to them and to their family.
“There is still a way to find happiness and find opportunity and have great moments during this pandemic,” Halle Pitman said. “Because people are going through a lot and losing people and losing jobs and like going through hard things but still like having a way to like be happy basically.”
Tanya Yarian completed the reporting for this story in Jour 241 in Fall 2021 under the supervision of Dr. Christina Littlefield and Dr. Theresa de los Santos. Dr. Littlefield supervised the web version of the story.
