TikTok that will be the great unsolved mystery of this era

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It’s so stupid it’s perfect for the internet. In early December, someone posted a mirror on TikTok with the caption, “Imagine how good your life would be if you had a 26-year-old nurse by your side, now replace the S with an N.” At that time, people were, to put it mildly, confused: “nursing annintant”? Weeks have passed since then, and while videos have come and gone, as viral clips often do, TikTok continues to confuse social media.

It became clear on Thursday when a friend sent tweet into one of my group chats containing a screenshot of TikTok and the message: “Every day, at least once, this haunts me.” At the time of this writing, the tweet has been viewed over 14 million times, and its replies are filled with all sorts of theories imaginable. Some claim that changing S to N means changing South to North, which completely changes your perspective; others, more believable, suggest that the answer has something to do with replacing “so good” with “bad”. My buddy in the group chat just said, “It’s like 2001: Space Odyssey our time, what is it keep in mind? Move over Kubrick, here comes @thisis_bex!”

Perhaps the biggest piece of the mystery is that the @thisis_bex TikTok account disappeared shortly after the video was posted. Spotters may find that the Daily Dot apparently found @thisis_bex, who stated that “the answer is that it must be a brain stump. This means nothing”. But honestly, it doesn’t feel right. It’s not that the Daily Dot didn’t do a proper investigation, it’s that the response received should be misdirected. Why create a “stump of the brain” without meaning? It’s not a mystery, it’s just… stupid.

It’s okay to take @thisis_bex at their word, but when you rant about how TikTok was part of some kind of psych op or from a user about to run the longest running scam, that’s when the real game begins. What if “replace S with N” is the greatest mystery of the 21st century? Start saying it in Indiana Jones’ hushed tone, and it will become “but in the Latin alphabet, Jehovah begins with Y” of the new generation. Or, as the OP of this tweet called it, Voynich manuscript.

Perhaps this is what the Internet needs: an unsolved mystery with very low stakes. The last few years have turned every online brawl into a wild forensic experiment as people try to investigate everyone from politicians to release of Twitter files. Meanwhile, pop culture’s fascination with podcasts and true crime shows has turned many online sleuths into police detectives, with varying results.

All that needs to be said is maybe a mysterious 26 year old nurse named Becks (if that’s their real name) deserves a bit of the mental power of the internet. No one will know for a long time what was in those secret documents found in President Biden’s office. Maybe solving this riddle is the best use of time for everyone.