What’s With TikTok’s LED Light Obsession?

It’s 2010. You’re on Tumblr, laptop screen glowing in the dark of your bedroom, and you’re staring at a photo of someone else’s room. It’s glowing too. Only this bedroom’s glow comes not from the screen of a laptop, but from a string of lights hung across a smattering of polaroids—probably some One Direction posters, too.

Fast forward: Now, it’s 2020. You’re on TikTok, the light from your smartphone bursting through the dark of your (pandemic) bedroom. As you scroll, it seems like half of the people you’re swiping by are posting from spaces much like your own, only their walls are awash in the gradient light of a sunset lamp or neatly placed multicolored LED light strips.

With the rise of social media over the past two decades, our bedrooms have become more public, functioning as backdrops for personal broadcasts from all types of amateur creators. Many of these creators eventually tapped into lighting’s transformative power to produce attractive, attention-grabbing images and videos, adapting studio-level lighting tricks and setups in their own homes. As the social media platforms we express ourselves on have grown more dynamic, so too has the lighting we orient our rooms around. In the TikTok era, those simple "Tumblr wall" string lights might feel quaint, but they’re part of the same design continuum.

Color-changing lights define the TikTok look so much that LED strip lights, ambient light projectors, and multicolored bulbs themselves are often referred to simply as "TikTok lights." But the increasing ubiquity is somewhat recent: The number of U.S. households that reported using LEDs for most of their indoor lighting grew from four percent in 2015 to 47 percent in 2020, per the U.S. Energy Information Administration. With this shift away from traditional light bulbs to more energy-efficient LEDs came a wider range of options for consumers, as well as expanded technological capabilities. "One of the biggest advantages of LED lighting is that, unlike legacy technologies such as incandescent lamps, LEDs are semiconductor devices, placing them squarely in the realm of digital control—that is, control via software," says lighting engineer Yoelit Hiebert. "Another distinguishing feature is the wide range of colors that can be realized without the use of colored glass or gels. Combining these features provides the ability to create and control lighting with a practically infinite range of colors with minimal expense and effort."

When lighting behemoth Philips launched Hue in 2012, it was the first smart LED bulb of its kind, but it was quite expensive (individual units cost $59, and a three-pack would set you back $199). Legacy brand Sylvania Lighting started selling Bluetooth-controlled bulbs in late 2016, the following year saw the launch of popular smart home and lighting brand Govee, and as more competitors came on the market, more affordable, fully customizable LED light options followed. The internet thrives on novelty, and, notably, while LED lighting prices dropped (and volumes increased) over the 2010s, becoming significantly cheaper during the latter part of the decade, TikTok was just taking off.

While some panicked at the U.S. ban on incandescent light bulbs earlier this year, the younger crowd is pretty acclimated to the world of LEDs, if TikTok is any indication. Still, the colored light look isn’t for everybody, and it’s arguably much more of an aesthetic choice than a functional one. Design psychologist Sally Augustin, principal of consulting firm Design With Science, would go so far as to say it’s off. "We can’t help but pay attention when people’s skin is an unnatural color—that can be really distracting," says Augustin, referring to how changes in skin coloration (like blue-gray tones or redness) can sometimes indicate underlying health conditions. Regardless, on the internet, color-changing LEDs have become the gold standard in "mood lighting." Some research even suggests that colored lighting can promote mental and physical health benefits. (Unsurprisingly, much of LED light marketing has capitalized on this.)

Perhaps the most recent lighting trend to reach critical mass is the "never use the big light" viral sound by TikTok user @GeeOfDee. With the audio, users showcase the various light fixtures they employ in their homes in place of harsh overhead lighting. Though many of the spaces feature colored LED lighting, including @GeeOfDee’s own, there are just as many that don’t. What’s most compelling about this trend is that it seems to reveal an interest in lighting that extends beyond any specific product. Compared to the internet’s early pandemic obsession with colored LED light strips, which could be at least partially chalked up to incessant affiliate marketing, the TikToks based on this sound reveal a deeper craving for considered lighting. Some posts have even surpassed a million likes, including one of a user’s RV interior with a mix of lamps, a fireplace, and a TV displaying a fire. The caption reads: "We abide by the same rules as a house." 

So why are younger people on the internet so passionate about mixed lighting these days? Augustin thinks it could be motivated by the desire to get some relief from—ironically—technology: "I think whether people will say that out loud or not, they realize that it feels different [to be in warm, mixed lighting]. It might be a reaction against all the light from the screens, but it might not be a stated thing in their minds."

As we approach the mid-2020s, the internet’s lighting appreciation seems to only be growing. And, naturally, the people willing to embrace the changes of the internet have proven willing to embrace the technological changes in lighting, too. So whether it’s the glow of our phones, a colored LED bulb, a cluster of accent lamps, or some other source that remains to be seen, we’ll probably be flocking to the light for decades to come.

Top photo by Matt Dutile; originally published in "My House: A Queens Couple Bring the Nightlife Home to Their Color-Changing Loft"

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