COLLEGE STATION, Texas — TikTok is one of the most popular social media in the entire world, from comedy bits to lip synching and viral dances. But one Texas A&M department is doing something different with the app and in a big way.
“I never thought that it would go to millions. I did a physics show, I didn't do anything new," Professor Tatiana Erukhimova said. Erukhimova is an instructional professor of physics and astronomy at Texas A&M. "It was just a very talented student who came, she filmed me, she made a great video and it went viral. Then we started posting more. So this is our team that made it happen.”
It all started back in November of 2021 with just an idea, but the team never expected what would happen next.
“It is still kind of surreal. I mean, and there's still so much we want to do," Ryan Carmichael, who is a web and information designer, said. "I think with every video moving forward here we're trying to think like `what is the next big thing we can do?’”
What happened next was Texas A&M's Physics & Astronomy Department gained more than 300,000 followers and more are subscribing every day. The numbers don't stop there: 5.7 million likes and more than 32 million views on the popular social media platform. That’s even more than the Aggie football team.
The man with the plan, Geoffery Franceschi, who is a lab manager of physics and astronomy at Texas A&M, said he knew they were big when the account went global.
“Friends from around the world that I have met through Discord and other social media have mentioned it, 'hey this is A&M, don’t you work there?’. And I’m like yes, that is my colleague," Franceschi said. "We do this together and that is our video. So it is just insane the amount of reach that we have on TikTok compared to any other social media platform right now.”
The outpouring of positive comments about science and Texas A&M is something Franceschi believes will cause a ripple effect on the next generation and their views on science.
“I believe that a lot of people are scared of science because it's a tough subject, and they make it tough in high school, elementary and even in college, but it doesn't have to be tough," Franceschi said. "You can explain science in a very fun and interactive way, like how we do on our channel. And I believe that doing things like this is very important to basically bring the masses back into science to show them it's actually really fun. It's also very simple to understand, and it can be very enjoyable to actually do as well at home.”
Erukhimova can feel the impact their account is having too, even from those who are long gone from Aggieland.
“You know, what is the best part with all these millions of views?" Erukhimova said. "My old students, my former students, they see me and they are proud of me and they are proud of the education that they got here and this is priceless.”