New or infrequent social media users are often baffled by the abbreviations, acronyms, and slang phrases commonly used in posts and videos.
They’re probably familiar with BTW, LOL, and noob, which have become part of the vernacular and can now be found in most dictionaries. Slightly more obscure ones like YOLO, FR, moots, and rizz, though, can seem inscrutable to noobs on social media platforms.
Another common issue they may run into, particularly on TikTok, is seeing references to seemingly-meaningless dates. One of them is December 3rd, which is often celebrated with trending videos posted to the app and appears to center around — of all things — sweaters.
Readers unfamiliar with the other slang we’ve mentioned will have to “do their own research,” a common mantra on social media.
But let’s unpack the annual December 3rd craze on TikTok.
December 3rd, TikTok, and Sweaters
It’s a pretty good assumption that everyone baffled by the December 3rd TikTok trend has never heard of Conan Gray, an American indie-pop singer, or his 2020 song “Heather.”
Gray became known as a popular YouTuber who released his first song on YT in 2017. He was named the best YouTube musician in 2019, the year before his first album, Kid Krow, was released. That album’s only song to hit the charts in America or the UK was “Heather,” which was immensely popular on TikTok and registered more than a billion streams worldwide.
A sweater reference in “Heather” is the centerpiece of the December 3rd trend:
I still remember, the third of December, me in your sweater.
You said it looked better on me than it did on you.
Gray is a cis male but has never commented on his sexuality, and has written many songs dealing with both female and male love interests. While “Heather’s” lyrics may refer to a gay male attracted to a straight male’s love for a woman, though, many others claim the song is queer-themed; it’s been adopted by some TikTok users in the lesbian community as an anthem.
And since December 3rd is also celebrated in Australia and New Zealand as International Lesbian Day, the song took on added significance on the app.
Many TikTok users mark the day by posting videos about sweaters, many of them mentioning the supposed tradition (which has never been documented) of gifting a significant other or crush with a sweater.
Gray released limited edition sweaters on his website when the song was first released, and he acknowledged the TikTok phenomenon on December 3, 2022, by wishing his fans a “Happy Annual Heather Day” and giving several of them sweaters he’d made.
Readers may consider this information obscure and useless — but at least they’ll no longer be wondering what all the December 3rd videos are about when they’re on TikTok this winter.
About the Author
Peter Hasselworth is a contributor at iDigic, sharing valuable insights about Instagram growth and social media marketing strategies.