“Much like the ‘stans’ of pop figures and franchises, members of TikTok cults stream songs, buy merch, create news update accounts and fervently defend their leaders in the comment sections of posts. The biggest difference is that TikTok’s cult leaders are not independently famous. They’re upstart creators building a fan base on social media.” And the biggest cult of them all is the Step Chickens, who are devoted to their “mother hen,” techie-turned-comedian Melissa Ong, who started the cult less than three weeks ago. – The New York Times