Syracuse-centered TikToks spread Tatyiana Gordon’s ‘infectious’ positivity
On Saturday, influencer Tatyiana Gordon hosted a community walk for her followers at Green Lakes State Park. Gordon is motivated by her love of meeting new people, she said. Zabdyl Koffa | Staff Photographer
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When Tatyiana Gordon was rethinking her future last summer, she turned to TikTok. It was an outlet to focus on something other than work.
“I’ve always been the friend that has their phone out, taking pictures,” Gordon said. “Even if I didn’t create content, I think I would still create content to some extent, because I’ve always dabbled in it.”
A little over a year after beginning her page, Gordon, 27, has accumulated over 41,000 TikTok followers and over 8,000 Instagram followers. Gordon’s content ranges from videos about Syracuse events to trying a new local coffee shop.
She’s also shared the isolation she felt when she relocated to Syracuse for work in 2022.
Originally from Buffalo, Gordon attended New York University and graduated in 2020. Gordon lived in Buffalo until moving to Syracuse for work. At the time, she didn’t know anyone in Syracuse and lived alone.
Gordon hopes that her page can create the Syracuse community and friends that she wishes she had when she moved to the Salt City.
She describes her content area as “just myself.” With videos that highlight her current struggles, seeking advice on certain situations and exposing the truths of content creation and influencer lies, Gordon tries to show her followers that her life isn’t perfect.
“I never want someone to be like, ‘Wow, her life must be like, the easiest thing ever,’” Gordon said. “I want people to leave feeling that connection and that realness, because that’s what I want to put forward.”
In between a 40-hour work week as an engineer at Ramboll in downtown Syracuse and serving as the social media manager for Spoke Cycle and Fitness Studio, Gordon takes her social media followers with her throughout her days.
Gordon has grown to love content creation so much that she recently purchased a second phone solely to make videos. Of course, her TikTok followers accompanied her to purchase the new iPhone 17 Pro at Destiny USA’s Apple store.
At 10 a.m. Saturday, Gordon gathered roughly 100 people from the community she’s built all in one place by hosting a “community walk & yap” event at Green Lakes State Park. Her supporters connected with Gordon and each other while walking.
One attendee and fan of Gordon, Moira McDermott, was skeptical about attending the event solo, but she was eager to show support for the content creator.
“I love hearing about new and cool things to do in the city,” McDermott said. “She’s just so positive, it’s infectious.”
Tatyiana Gordon’s content is for both newcomers to Syracuse and long-time locals. Gordon made content about her own feelings of isolation, making her page relatable to people who recently moved to the city.Zabdyl Koffa | Staff Photographer
McDermott began watching Gordon’s videos over the summer. Though McDermott’s lived in Syracuse since 2006, Gordon’s videos inspired her to explore more of Syracuse. McDermott said the account reminds her that there are things she still hasn’t tried in the city.
Gordon’s content attracts people like McDermott, who’ve lived in Syracuse for a long time, but also people who are new to Syracuse.
Alexis Bormann, one of Gordon’s followers, moved to Syracuse last August from the Adirondack Mountains. Bormann appreciates the support she feels from Gordon’s page about living in a new place, since Gordon went through the same thing.
Bormann attended the community walk with her partner, Devyn Scheidt, to see who’s out in the community and meet as many people as she could, she said.
“I know how isolating it can be here and how hard it is to meet people when you work so much,” Bormann said. “Everyone here is looking for the same thing: to build connections.”
Follower Alyssa Navelli said she appreciates Gordon’s authenticity and likes that she shows both the ups and downs of life.
Navelli, a Rome, New York native, was looking for a new coffee spot in Syracuse, where she often travels for work. That search for a place she could relax in Syracuse led her to Gordon’s account.
“I really wanted to push myself to leave my house and go out for activities,” Navelli said. “I never thought that a TikTok or influencer would bring me to do it. She helped jump-start that for me.”
Gordon’s suggestion of visiting Kelsey’s Coffee and Friends brought Navelli to one of the shop’s silent book club events. Now, she goes there any chance she can, visiting at least five times a week.
Navelli said she was eager to socialize and connect with new people in the area that she spends a lot of time with by attending events Gordon highlights.
Gordon wants to continue to rally a community of her followers by sharing and hosting events, like the Green Lakes walk, and responding to most of her comments.
“At my core, I just love talking to people and meeting new people,” Gordon said. “It has been so fun to have people online, local to Syracuse and all over the country that I’ve met just because I’m posting silly little videos.”
