PledgeTok: What This Fraternity Trend is All About
By now you’ve probably known about PledgeTok, or at least have seen a couple of videos on it on your FYP. This one by officialbigred0 from the University of Michigan went super viral (currently at 38.2M views) because of the ending that it spawned a Part 2 that is at 102.6M views right now! Plus, it scored them a brand deal from Buffalo Wild Wings, which is insane.
Honestly, if you haven’t seen any PledgeTok vids on your FYP by now, you’re missing out. The guys are funny (and cute) as hell.
“Wait, what is PledgeTok?”
PledgeTok is the frat boys’ answer to the super popular RushTok, and it’s a cute (in a cool guy kinda way) effort on fraternities’ side to show what they’re really like. The hashtag has been active since 2023, but it only really gained massive traction late 2024. Since then, chapters have really been active on PledgeTok, doing random compliments to sororities or doing trending audios.
Despite criticisms about the fraternity PledgeTok movement, it’s here to stay and redefine the experience for new members when joining a frat.
“Okay, so what kind of PledgeTok videos are out there?”
Since it’s still a fairly new trend, PledgeTok is still a little lacking in variety. However, we did look at the hashtag and watched all the videos we can to find out what is PledgeTok loving. Here’s what we found:
Doing Something Nice for Girls
Videos like the one officialbigred0 posted fall under this category and are actually super popular on TikTok. It usually involves the guys coming up to girls, maybe like knocking on their dorm doors and doing something lowkey nice, like hyping the girl (or girls) up or just generally letting them be their cutest selves on cam.
These videos are 100% consented—the guys doing this sort of thing do ask the dorm occupants if they’re willing to participate and are instructed on what to do. If you’re asking yourself, “Why do the girls open the door literally 1 second after the guys knock?” like other people in the comments, that’s why.
Another variation is just going up to a group of sorority girls or even standing in front of their chapter houses and giving them cute shoutouts while the guys are hyping them up. They can be dancing, just being cute and goofy, and so on. Plus it gives the sorority girls a chance to show off their cute sorority shirts while they're at it.
Dancing as a Group to TikTok Audio
Definitely one of the most common PledgeTok videos out there involves dancing to trending songs from TikTok. The bonus here is that they dress up, which is a feat in itself since doing wide and vigorous steps while wearing a suit and tie can be challenging. The boys are learning teamwork, too, since dancing in a group means coordinating their steps and maybe even making sure they switch formations without bumping into each other.
Dancing to Bye Bye Bye by *NSYNC while in a dapper suit is a popular choice right now, but other trending songs can be used. TikTok user haydenpetersonn used the “Gwaenchana?” audio on his video that went up to 8.8M views.
Testing Their Knowledge
Contrary to semi-popular belief, frat boys are not some dumb jock meathead stereotype. Lots of chapters are academically responsible, God-fearing, and community-driven. And some guys at PledgeTok have found this trend to be the perfect way to showcase that side of fraternity life.
An underrated but certainly impressive trend officialbigred0 did with his fellow PC’24 guys is to name something or someone mentioned in the Bible that starts with J. As one of the comments put it, “wait this is surprisingly educational”. It’s one of the more criminally underrated PledgeTok videos, I fear.
PledgeTok, like we mentioned above, seems to be redefining how fraternities are welcoming their new members to the chapter, as well as showcasing different sides to their fraternities others have never seen before. It may be in its baby stages, but it’s likely not going anywhere anytime soon. So, after reading this and watching all those videos, what is PledgeTok to you?