Kara Wolfbauer builds TikTok audience during pandemic

BY JORGE REYNA JR / VN STAFF WRITER

Kara Wolfbauer, a University of Detroit Mercy softball player, has found making videos on TikTok a great way to escape all the craziness of Covid-19.

And others are finding so, too. Wolfbauer now has over 23,000 followers and has been consistently getting around 10,000 views per video.

Since September 2019 Wolfbauer has been uploading comedic, informal and voiceover videos with her friends and family.

When she contracted the virus, she found herself uploading more frequently.

Early on she was getting 1,000 to 2,500 views per video, but as she kept uploading the views continued to grow.

Her most popular video has 582,000 views and 58,000 likes.

The video features Wolfbauer and her grandmother, Dolores Mulrenin, as the softball player takes two rolls of wrapping paper and keeps a beat while using her grandmother as a drum as they both dance.

Mulrenin is no stranger to filming with her granddaughter.

The two have been filming humorous videos together since Wolfbauer started her account.

“It’s something we get to do together and I love spending time with her and still go back every weekend to visit,” said Wolfbauer.

The St. Clair Shores student found uploading during these hard times an escape.

“It definitely kept me sane and you start making videos for fun and once your account grows it starts to become an escape,” she said.

Wolfbauer doesn’t consider herself “TikTok famous” but overall enjoys the content she makes.

Outside of the light-hearted videos, she is open about her personal life.

Wolfbauer posted about her alopecia areata, a condition that causes hair to fall out and occurs when the immune system attacks hair follicles.

It may be brought on by severe stress.

“I think it’s important that we use our platforms to also inform and do some good for others,” she said.