A viral TikTok attempted to calculate an anti-quarantine protestor's hair growth to prove that stay-at-home orders weren't to blame for her roots
- TikTok user @rebabeba, who goes by Rebecca on the app, went viral for a video in which she investigated a protestor's claims that Michigan's stay-at-home order was responsible for her the grown-out roots of her hair.
- By establishing the length of the state's quarantine period and the average rate of hair growth, Rebecca appeared to roughly calculate how much one's hair would grow during quarantine and compared the length to the protestor's roots — determining that the woman's hair had likely not been dyed since October.
- The video has received hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok and has been widely distributed on Twitter, even receiving some celebrity attention.
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TikTok has emerged as the app for inspiring viral dance crazes, launching the careers of Gen Z stars, and spreading beauty trends — but, perhaps, the platform is also establishing itself as a destination for critical investigations.
TikTok user @rebabeba, who goes by Rebecca on the app, has gone viral for a video showcasing her investigative instincts after seeing a NowThis Politics' Instagram video featuring footage of people in Lansing, Michigan protesting the state's extended stay-at-home order.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer's latest order, Business Insider reported, closed parts of big-box stores that sell gardening and home-improvement goods, limited the use of motorboats, closed public golf courses, and curbed interstate travel, which barred residents from fleeing the most heavily afflicted parts of the state to elsewhere in Michigan.
Protestors flooded the streets last week to demand that businesses reopen and normal activities resume — and many gathered outside the state capitol for a demonstration, called #OperationGridlock. Experts warn that more rallies and unrest are coming amid economic anxiety surrounding the pandemic.
After watching footage of the anti-quarantine rally, Rebecca was struck by one protestor who revealed the undyed roots of her hair to the camera and argued that stringent safety measures prevented her from going to the hairdresser.
Her roots, Rebecca says in the video, seemed to be too grown-out for just a few weeks in quarantine. So she did what she claims "any sane person would do" and launched an investigation.
After establishing the duration of Michigan's stay at home order, the average rate at which hair grows, and the length of the average woman's pointer finger (for scale), Rebecca calculated how much the protestor's hair had likely grown since beginning quarantine — and, accordingly, how much time had passed since her last hair treatment.
The result?
The protester, Rebecca says, may not have had her hair done since October of 2019. Insider cannot verify the scientific accuracy of the rough calculation, but nevertheless, the effort is impressive.
In two days, the video has been viewed over 300,000 times and racked up thousands of comments from impressed and amused viewers.
"Sis did her research," one comment (that received over 8,500 likes) read.
"Oh you were BORED BORED," another commenter said, to which Rebecca responded that the assertion is "not wrong."
"As a math teacher, I'd like to use this problem," one viewer wrote. "Lmk if there are copyright issues b/c you don't seem like someone I should mess with."
The video eventually made its way to Twitter where "Star Wars" legend Mark Hamill retweeted the clip with the caption "this is what happens when people have too much free time on their hands."
Hamill's tweet has received nearly 25,000 likes.
The protestor in the video could not be reached immediately to confirm Rebecca's result.
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