This TikTok clip of a twirling cat is the purest thing on the internet right now

The internet can be a downright downer with all its hellhole of fake news, alt-right propagation, and misery-inducing anonymous comments. But sometimes, it’s pretty alright. 

I’m happy to announce that we’re going back to the true purpose of the internet — spreading delightful content involving cats.

A TikTok clip that’s making omnipresent rounds on social media might restore your faith in all that is good and pure in the world. Canadian high school student Jade Taylor-Ryan and her cat Ed have become the creators behind one of the most phenomenally viral clips on the short-form video platform since it was uploaded last Friday (Aug 16). 

There are just so many things that make Jade’s TikTok video an infinitely re-playable classic. There are Ed’s clapping paws. There’s the cat’s superbly chill demeanour. There’s that flip. There’s that innocent-looking peep into the camera. There’s Ed’s chunky body gyrating perfectly to a barbershop tune from the ‘50s. I'm weeping at the utter perfection in each frame across the 16-second-long clip.

 

 

Speaking to BuzzFeed News, Jade’s backstory about how the video was made adds to the magic of this new TikTok meme. According to her, she simply placed her phone on the floor and timed Ed’s appearances on screen according to the beat of the song. The cat, thankfully, didn’t mind at all taking part in the bit. 

"Ed is very chill!" she told BuzzFeed News. "We pick him up and move him around all the time and he doesn’t really care, so I figured I would be able to do the same thing for the video. Turns out, I was right!"

Jade’s video is not the first incarnation of the concept — hers is a feline version of an ongoing TikTok meme popularised by prominent TikTok-er Enoch True a few months ago. Using the app’s nine-camera split filter, he lip-synced the same song and posted the results to his over six million followers. 

 

 

Jade and Ed, however, currently seem to be a source of inspiration of their own. Unsurprising, considering the video has racked up over six million views and hundreds of thousands more when it was reposted on Twitter.

[embed]https://twitter.com/moominsmoons/status/1162500563973525504[/embed]

Other TikTok users have also volunteered their own pets to take part in the meme, and they’re as adorable as you’d expect them to be. 

You're okay sometimes, internet. You're okay. 

ilyas@asiaone.com