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fans took back</h1><span class="font-polysans text-22 font-light leadg-110 md:text-30 lg:block"><span class="text-blurple"> / </span><h2 class="le selectn:bg-ankl-20">‘This is uncharted terrory for me,’ says Absofacto</h2></span></div><div><div class="mb-16 w-[200px] borr-t borr-gray-bd lg:hidn"></div><div class="mb-2 text-blurple [&>p>span:first-child]:text-gray-13 [&]:text-gray-13"><p class="duet--article--article-byle max-w-[550px] font-polysans text-12 leadg-120"><span>By</span> <span><span class="duet--article-byle-and"></span> <span class="font-medium"><a class="hover:shadow-unrle-her" href="/thors/ssell-brandom">Rsell Brandom</a></span></span></p></div><div class="duet--article--date-and-ments mb-12 le-block font-polysans text-12 text-gray-5a"><time dateTime="2020-07-18T16:02:25.000Z" class="duet--article--timtamp font-polysans text-12"> <!-- -->Jul 18, 2020, 4:02 PM UTC</time><span class="mx-8">|</span><button tle="Go to ments" class="duet--article--ments-lk le-block 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(1020x680:1021x681):format(webp)/ 2048w, (1020x680:1021x681):format(webp)/ 2400w" src="(1020x680:1021x681):format(webp)/" dg="async" data-nimg="rponsive" style="posn:absolute;top:0;left:0;bottom:0;right:0;box-sizg:borr-box;paddg:0;borr:none;marg:to;display:block;width:0;height:0;m-width:100%;max-width:100%;m-height:100%;max-height:100%;object-f:ver"/></span><div class="duet--media--ptn pt-6 font-polysans-mono text-12 font-light leadg-130 trackg-1"> <ce class="duet--article--dangeroly-set-cms-markup le not-alic text-gray-63 dark:text-gray-bd [&>a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-unrle-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-unrle-gray [&>a]:shadow-unrle-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-unrle-gray">Illtratn by Alex Castro / The Verge</ce></div></figure></div></div></div></div><div class="relative md:mx-to md:flex md:max-w-ntaer-md lg:max-w-none"><div class="duet--article--article-body-ponent-ntaer clearfix sm:ml-to md:ml-100 md:max-w-article-body lg:mx-100"><div><div class="duet--article--article-body-ponent"><p class="duet--article--dangeroly-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph mb-20 font-fkroman text-18 leadg-160 -trackg-1 selectn:bg-ankl-20 dark:text-whe dark:selectn:bg-blurple [&_a:hover]:shadow-highlight-ankl dark:[&_a:hover]:shadow-highlight-blurple [&_a]:shadow-unrle-black dark:[&_a]:shadow-unrle-whe">For years, Absofacto’s “Dissolve” has been a fixture on TikTok — specifilly the first few sends of the chos, a hooky risg vol le sgg the words, “I jt wanted you to watch me dissolve...” The song never broke as big as “Old Town Road” or “The Box,” but TikTok fame has given lns of streamg plays and even a mor chart breakthrough 2019, a full four years after was released.</p></div><div class="duet--article--article-body-ponent"><p class="duet--article--dangeroly-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph mb-20 font-fkroman text-18 leadg-160 -trackg-1 selectn:bg-ankl-20 dark:text-whe dark:selectn:bg-blurple [&_a:hover]:shadow-highlight-ankl dark:[&_a:hover]:shadow-highlight-blurple [&_a]:shadow-unrle-black dark:[&_a]:shadow-unrle-whe">But last weekend, Jonathan Visger (who rerds unr the Absofacto name) got some alarmg news om his followers. “I started gettg msag om people that were survivors of childhood sexual abe,” says Visger. “They told me there were vios on TikTok g my song that were extremely upsettg to them.”</p></div><div class="duet--article--article-body-ponent clear-both block md:float-left md:mr-30 md:w-[320px] lg:-ml-100"><div class="duet--article--article-pullquote mb-20"><div class="mb-10 h-[22px] w-[65px] bg-ankl"></div><p class="duet--article--dangeroly-set-cms-markup relative bg-repeatg-l-dark bg-[length:1px_1.2em] pb-8 font-polysans text-28 font-medium leadg-120 trackg-1 selectn:bg-ankl-20 dark:bg-repeatg-l-light dark:text-whe dark:selectn:bg-blurple">“The strs probably took a year off my life, but was worth ”</p></div></div><div class="duet--article--article-body-ponent"><p class="duet--article--dangeroly-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph mb-20 font-fkroman text-18 leadg-160 -trackg-1 selectn:bg-ankl-20 dark:text-whe dark:selectn:bg-blurple [&_a:hover]:shadow-highlight-ankl dark:[&_a:hover]:shadow-highlight-blurple [&_a]:shadow-unrle-black dark:[&_a]:shadow-unrle-whe">The msag were about an unsettlg meme that had grown up around Visger’s song. Dcribed as “daddy dghter POV” vios, the vios show young ers makg direct eye ntact wh the viewer, settg a scene of a dghter accintally walkg on her father. The lighter stanc of the meme were only vaguely creepy, but others seemed to be straightforward referenc to ct and sexual abe. None were explic enough to trigger moratn, but they were still eply disturbg. For longtime fans, was jarrg to see soundtracked by a song they loved. </p></div><div class="duet--article--article-body-ponent"><p class="duet--article--dangeroly-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph mb-20 font-fkroman text-18 leadg-160 -trackg-1 selectn:bg-ankl-20 dark:text-whe dark:selectn:bg-blurple [&_a:hover]:shadow-highlight-ankl dark:[&_a:hover]:shadow-highlight-blurple [&_a]:shadow-unrle-black dark:[&_a]:shadow-unrle-whe">“I probably wouldn’t have unrstood the meang behd this trend, if the people who had been affected hadn’t told me about and asked me to do somethg,” Visger says. “This is uncharted terrory for me.”</p></div><div class="duet--article--article-body-ponent"><p class="duet--article--dangeroly-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph mb-20 font-fkroman text-18 leadg-160 -trackg-1 selectn:bg-ankl-20 dark:text-whe dark:selectn:bg-blurple [&_a:hover]:shadow-highlight-ankl dark:[&_a:hover]:shadow-highlight-blurple [&_a]:shadow-unrle-black dark:[&_a]:shadow-unrle-whe">The rult has been an unual fight to reclaim “Dissolve.” Unlike most ntent fights, this one has mostly taken place among ers, avoidg top-down moratn favor of mass actn wh the strange esystem of TikTok. But for Visger and other micians who have ed the platform to reach a new dience, ’s an ugly remr of how ltle ntrol there is over how a song is ed, and how hard n be to take back your work.</p></div><div class="duet--article--article-body-ponent clear-both block md:float-left md:mr-30 md:w-[320px]"><div class="duet--article--dangeroly-set-cms-markup my-40"><blockquote class="tiktok-embed" ce=" data-vio-id="6850209156713041158" style="max-width: 605px;m-width: 325px;" > <sectn> <a target="_blank" tle="@t0biss" href=">@t0biss</a> <p></p> <a target="_blank" tle="♬ origal sound - sunrisemic" href=">♬ origal sound - sunrisemic</a> </sectn> </blockquote> <script async src="></script></div></div><div class="duet--article--article-body-ponent"><p class="duet--article--dangeroly-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph mb-20 font-fkroman text-18 leadg-160 -trackg-1 selectn:bg-ankl-20 dark:text-whe dark:selectn:bg-blurple [&_a:hover]:shadow-highlight-ankl dark:[&_a:hover]:shadow-highlight-blurple [&_a]:shadow-unrle-black dark:[&_a]:shadow-unrle-whe">From the begng, Visger seemed to be fightg an uphill battle agast TikTok’s algorhm. Users who register lik on a lot of “Dissolve” mem are likely to be shown more of them, which means the ers who already had an attachment to Visger’s song were the on most likely to see the unsettlg meme. And bee remendatn algorhms tend to surface ntent that gets a lot of reactns — whether ’s lik, ments or TikTok duets — the ntroversy around the vios may have only promoted them more.</p></div><div class="duet--article--article-body-ponent"><p class="duet--article--dangeroly-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph mb-20 font-fkroman text-18 leadg-160 -trackg-1 selectn:bg-ankl-20 dark:text-whe dark:selectn:bg-blurple [&_a:hover]:shadow-highlight-ankl dark:[&_a:hover]:shadow-highlight-blurple [&_a]:shadow-unrle-black dark:[&_a]:shadow-unrle-whe">Visger’s first rponse was <a href=">a TikTok post</a>, llg on fans to take back the song and beat back the “gross daddy POV trend,” as he lled . “This song means a lot to me,” he wrote a ptn. “Please save om beg associated wh this daddy play actg thg.” The post brought half a ln lik, and lnched a wave of untermem unr the same d tag, a slowed down versn of Dissolve’s faiar hook. One popular er <a href=">posted a POV vio</a> wh the ptn “I’m your ol nt lookg at a picture you jt lored wh your other nt after I get back om buryg your creepy pedophilic dad the woods,” which spun off an entire wave of rponse vios. In <a href=">another rponse</a>, a gay uple pos wh their fant child unr the ptn “POV: you got taken away om your creepy dad and adopted by a lbian wch fay.”</p></div><div class="duet--article--article-body-ponent"><p class="duet--article--dangeroly-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph mb-20 font-fkroman text-18 leadg-160 -trackg-1 selectn:bg-ankl-20 dark:text-whe dark:selectn:bg-blurple [&_a:hover]:shadow-highlight-ankl dark:[&_a:hover]:shadow-highlight-blurple [&_a]:shadow-unrle-black dark:[&_a]:shadow-unrle-whe">Along the way, many of the ers behd the origal daddy-dghter meme have gotten the msage. Many have taken down their posts, sometim postg apologi alongsi them. (Visger <a href=">duetted one on Friday</a>, tryg to boost the msage.) After last week’s flood, the mem are now difficult to fd on TikTok, and far ls likely to pop to the pivotal For You page.</p></div><div class="duet--article--article-body-ponent"><p class="duet--article--dangeroly-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph mb-20 font-fkroman text-18 leadg-160 -trackg-1 selectn:bg-ankl-20 dark:text-whe dark:selectn:bg-blurple [&_a:hover]:shadow-highlight-ankl dark:[&_a:hover]:shadow-highlight-blurple [&_a]:shadow-unrle-black dark:[&_a]:shadow-unrle-whe">Still, the experience has left Visger unsettled, and wh a radilly new perspective on what means to be a popular artist on TikTok. He’s cid that, at least for a while, he’ll dite his TikTok acunt to spreadg awarens about child sexual abe, hopg to fort survivors and turn the experience to somethg more posive.</p></div><div class="duet--article--article-body-ponent"><p class="duet--article--dangeroly-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph mb-20 font-fkroman text-18 leadg-160 -trackg-1 selectn:bg-ankl-20 dark:text-whe dark:selectn:bg-blurple [&_a:hover]:shadow-highlight-ankl dark:[&_a:hover]:shadow-highlight-blurple [&_a]:shadow-unrle-black dark:[&_a]:shadow-unrle-whe">“I’m so happy I spoke up and I’m so thankful to the CSA survivors who put on my radar,” he says. “The strs probably took a year off my life, but was worth .”</p></div></div><div class="mb-40 mt-30"><button class="duet--article--ments-button group le-flex h-40 w-full ems-center jtify-center round-[2px] borr-[1px] borr-solid borr-blurple font-polysans-mono text-11 font-light upperse trackg-12 text-blurple hover:bg-blurple hover:text-whe md:w-to md:px-30"><svg class="mr-10 le pt-2" width="12" height="14" fill="none" viewBox="0 0 12 12" stroke-width="1px" xmlns="><tle>Comments.