“If this finds you, do not scroll. This message was meant for you.”

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If your TikTok feed looks anything like mine, you’ve heard some variation of this line a hundred times. One second I’m watching a Twilight edit or a recipe for the best espresso martini, and the next, a creator is holding a deck of cards staring into the lens. They are either telling me “You’re about to take a massive risk”, “Your ex is thinking about reaching out to you”, or that “Your energy is shifting.”

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It’s easy to laugh off, but if I’m being completely honest…I don’t just scroll past them. I actually listen to them, and deep down I wonder “wait, how did they know”?

When I brought up this topic in class, a classmate of mine admitted he was the target audience. He wasn’t just watching for the laughs, he actually listens to the readings and lets them guide his week. If his reading tells him to go out this Friday…he will be going out this Friday. (Shoutout Jack Nguyen)

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That made me realize how easily the logic fades away. We know how algorithms work and how a computer script is just sorting videos based on watch time and data. But when a hyper specific reading hits a little too close to home late at night, that justification no longer matters. It starts to feel like an intentional message that was meant specifically for you.

Part of what makes it feel so real is the timing…a lot of people talk about this online. You start talking to a new crush and suddenly your feed is full of readings about “New love is coming.” Your relationship ends and you see videos like “Your presence is haunting this person” or “Channeled message from a coward.”

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When your digital world mirrors your life in real time, it triggers Carl Jung’s concept of synchronicity. These are meaningful coincidences that feel guided by fate. It can be hard to accept that a one-minute video is a sign from the universe, but in that moment it can feel even harder to accept that it’s just a random statistical chance.

Turns out we aren’t alone either. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 30% of U.S. adults consult tarot, astrology, or fortune tellers yearly. They also found that 13% of adults under 30 admit they rely at least a little on these insights when making real-life decisions. Pew also found that the majority of people claim they do it “mostly just for fun.” But is that just the gateway to genuine belief? We claim we’re just scrolling for entertainment, but we still let the reading influence who we text back that night. 

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At the end of the day, trusting the algorithm feels a lot better than feeling like you’re navigating a chaotic world completely on your own. Believing that a higher power or the universe guided a video to your screen at 1:00 AM brings comfort to us. That comfort feels a lot better than admitting we’re just feeding an app’s engagement metrics. So maybe the cards are real, or maybe it’s just really good data tracking. Either way, next time a reading tells me my life is about to change…I’m definitely not scrolling past it.