Ollie the sea otter, Harpo the sea lion and the Aquarium of the Pacific\u2019s 12,000 other adorable critters have won the hearts of the public through a phone screen.<\/p>\n
In the world of the Aquarium\u2019s now-viral TikTok account, penguins march with rainbow flags<\/a> in a Pride Parade (1.4 million views), Harpo, the aquarium\u2019s social media star, belts out<\/a> in song to pop punk rock (405,900 views), and\u2014the post that fueled the account\u2019s rise in popularity at the start of the pandemic\u2014an octopus eats a toy boat loaded with mussels<\/a>.<\/p>\n Madeline Walden, the aquarium\u2019s 29-year-old social media curator\u2014and the woman behind it all\u2014isn\u2019t striving for perfection, but rather authenticity.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to make learning fun,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want to make it enticing to everybody, no matter what your education level is or, or where you are in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n The local aquarium\u2019s TikTok following has grown to an astounding 2.3 million, more than any other aquarium or zoo in the country, Walden said.<\/p>\n She started the account in January 2020, just before the pandemic. The marketing team was supportive of the decision, she said, recognizing the potential of the sometimes controversial app.<\/p>\n The account had a mere 160 followers through March 2020, and then came the silly octopus video, set to intense \u201cJaws\u201d-like music, which boosted the aquarium\u2019s account immediately to 100,000 followers.<\/p>\n We call this \u201cKraken Enrichment\u201d \ud83d\udc19\ud83d\udea4 #LearnOnTikTok<\/a> #TikTokPartner<\/a> #aquariumofthepacific<\/a><\/p>\n \u266c Embrace Chaos – Daniel Ciurlizza<\/a> <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n \n