TikTokers are coming together to help each other pay off student loans, mortgages, credit cards and other debt — but the now-serious “pay off my debt” trend started as a “silly idea” from an iCarly episode, says the person who started it all.

Jake Burgett is a recent Physician Assistant graduate who's starting a critical care fellowship at the end of the summer — but social media knows him less for his blood pressure jokes and more about the “pay off my debt” personal finance trend he started last month.

Burgett said entrepreneur that the video “gained a lot more traction” than he thought.

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“I didn't originally post the video to start a trend or movement,” Burgett said. “I mostly thought it was a silly idea with a theme that people could resonate with.”

Burgett posted a one-minute, eleven-second TikTok video on May 12, which has now been viewed over 25 million times.

“So I did the math, and apparently, in order for TikTok to pay off my student loans in one fell swoop, I'd need 247 million people to watch this five-second video, which you just did. ” Burgett says at the beginning of the viral video.

He then takes the over a minute long video of himself eating cereal on camera.

@jheisenburg If you are reading this, just know that I appreciate you. I'm so happy we can share this moment ❤️? #fyp #studentloans #viral #cereals #icarly #spencershay #whynotdatemedotcom ♬ original sound – Jake | ⚕️ Jheisenburg ⚕️

TikTokers have done similar video since Burgett started the trend.

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How did the idea “pay off my debt” come about?

Burgett was intrigued by the amount of money available to content creators and thought other people might be too.

Burgett said the idea for the video came in part from an episode of Nickelodeon's classic iCarly, in which Jerry Trainor's character Spencer tries to create a dating profile by creating a video of himself eating cereal.

The other half of the idea came from some napkin math Burgett did on how much money he would need to make from TikTok to pay off his student loans.

“So, of course, I thought the most absurd thing to do would be to combine the two and tell people I'm going to sit there eating cereal for a minute and they can get out if they want,” he said. he.

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Burgett just wanted people to find the video relatable and expected maybe 10,000 views, although seeing millions of likes, comments, shares and reviews was “really touching”.

How much money did Burgett make from the “pay off my debt” video?

The viral video didn't pay off Burgett's student loans, he told Entrepreneur.

However, he earned more than he earned in two months at his old job.

In a sequel TIK TokBurgett explained that the loan amount he had to pay off was in the low six figures, and the video he posted with 25 million views made relatively less: $4,200.

The creator of TikTok SOFTWARE, which Burgett tried to use, gets qualified views and RPM, or the amount paid per thousand views. Burgett's RPM was lower for that video, resulting in a lower payout than expected.

Despite making money from the video, Burgett said he doesn't think making another video with the same concept would feel right.

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“My goal is just to continue to create content that I enjoy and develop a community to see where that takes us and see if we can help others along the way,” he told Entrepreneur.

While creating videos as a side hustle can be profitable, Burgett isn't quitting his day job and warns people not to make sacrifices for social media content that could negatively impact their finances.

“We have to remember that financial stability is usually a long game,” Burgett warned. “Social media gives the illusion of a quick financial fix and I'm glad I was able to put this theory to work… But remember to sacrifice more than you can afford along the way.”