Discussing Cosplay and Tik Tok with Taya Miller

I had the honor of talking to Taya about what it's like to have a large following on TikTok and how she's encouraging others to express themselves

Jason: Let's first start with when & why did you decide to start a TikTok.

Taya: I got TikTok around May of 2019. All of my friends were on TikTok, and I honestly think I was the last one of my friend group to get the app. I was never a huge social media person, outside of photography and photo-editing for Instagram. I always enjoyed spending my time outside and staying off of my phone, but TikTok really struck my interest — it allowed me to express my creativity in a way I never had before.

What first attracted you to cosplaying?

I went to my first Comic-Con in April 2019 — Megacon Orlando. It was my first one, and I had no idea what to expect, but I heard that people dressed up as characters, so I ended up wearing a Spider-Man suit! I never really had an understanding of cosplay or fandoms prior, and so my mind was blown when I went to this convention. Growing up, I had never embraced this side of me that was into Star Wars, Marvel, DC, anime, etc., simply because I didn’t think I was supposed to. After this convention, I felt as if I had a place to do that now. I’m not exaggerating when I say that it changed my life and allowed me to become confident in who I was, which is why I encourage my followers so much to embrace who they are and to be confident in doing it.

Who’s your favorite character to cosplay as?

I get asked this question so often, and I still don’t have a solid answer!(laughs). Spider-Man is my favorite superhero, as well as my first cosplay, so he’s always going to be my favorite (and a fan favorite). Aside from Spidey, I would say my Padmé and Rey have my heart. I’ve loved Star Wars since before I could even walk, and it’s a dream-come-true when I cosplay as Padmé, really as any female from this franchise.

How long does it take to make a typical cosplay video?

It completely depends on the cosplay. My Venom series took me from 10pm-6am, including makeup, recording, and editing. My Spider-Man videos usually take 20 minutes! At meetups, where I have multiple cosplayers in a video, it does take a little longer, sometimes up to an hour!

When did you realize you could have a real following on Tik Tok?

I think around August when I reached somewhere around 300k. I had this realization that people, like, actually enjoyed my content and my personality, which is still crazy to me. I actually ended up starting a Discord, which allows me to stay connected with some followers (more so family) than TikTok led me to. I’ve always pushed to stay as close to and as real with my followers as I can. Anyways, once I went to my first meetup in December, where I collaborated with quite a few other creators, my numbers skyrocketed. I’ve now obtained 1.5 million followers on the app!

What’s your favorite video you’ve done?

My most viral video and probably my favorite, on my account is this one!

As the video explains, my boyfriend and I actually met through TikTok, it sounds crazy, I know. He had duetted me last year, and now we’ve been dating for about 10 months!

You recently started an OnlyFans, describe what it was like to start one.

So at our last meetup in July, myself and 6 others decided to start an OnlyFans together, just to see what it was like. The startup was rough, as the stigma is TERRIBLE. Don’t get me wrong, the majority of my followers are super supportive and all for female empowerment, but some Instagram dm’s and comments from friends that I’ve received are absolutely terrible. As for the OnlyFans platform itself, people are so kind and understanding! I have about 1000 subs and I seriously have not run into issues with any of them. I use the platform strictly as extra cosplay content, and as a “spicy” version of my Instagram, and people love it! I’m slowly trying to break the stigma around the site, and I’m hoping to keep it around, but we’ll see.

Do you have any advice for people looking to grow their account?

Hashtags, meetups, collabs! When you’re first starting out, it’s so hard to get onto the For You Page to get your stuff seen. Use trending hashtags, as well as content-specific hashtags! Also, having meetups and collaborating with others will expose you to a larger audience that might not have known you before. Be in other people's videos, and post videos of your own that have others in it! I’ve been to about 5 meetups now, and each one I gain about another 100k.

Also, to make your content more appealing try to have good lighting, good camera quality, and a clean background.

Where do you want to see your page go in the next few months?

For TikTok, I hope to just continue making content that my followers and I enjoy, and to continue to grow! As for my other platforms, I’m trying to develop my YouTube and Twitch more (I just got my PC setup in and I’m so excited)! I’m hoping to focus my Twitch around gaming, and my YouTube around myself as a person, not as a cosplayer, which would include vlogs, meetups, and Q&A’s. Most importantly, throughout all of my platforms, I just hope to continue to make each of my followers’ days a little brighter and confidence a little stronger. Life is short, and I don’t ever want another kid growing up, thinking that they shouldn’t embrace who they are.

Thank you, Vocal.media, so much for having me!

Make sure to follow Taya on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitch