On September 30th, followers of the famous influencer “H00pify” were in for a shock. His daily episode, normally voiced by his instantly recognizable tone and delivery, sounded a bit different. The voice belonged to Dillon Latham, another well known creator, and the topic of the video was even more shocking for his fans: H00pify’s potential career-ending injury.
Henry De Tolla, better known as H00pify online, has become one of the defining influencers in modern internet humor. Throughout the past few years, De Tolla has worked hard to amass over 770,000 followers on Tik Tok, and more than 200,000 on Instagram through his ironic breakdown of memes and “brain-rot” trends. However, after attending an Ole Miss football game, the twenty-two year old revealed he had torn a vocal cord, an injury that left him unable to speak clearly and uncertain about the future of his work as an influencer.
Tyler Pace, a senior at Bernards High School, follows H00pify and said that he “was absolutely devastated” hearing the news of his vocal cord injury. Pace, who follows H00pify on TikTok, “hoped that the TikTok community would come together and help [De Tolla] through his recovery”.
As a social media influencer whose voice is essential to his craft, the news hit hard. De Tolla made the decision to take a rest from the daily content, following warnings from his doctor that continuing to speak could lead to permanent damage. However, instead of going silent, H00pify continued to post videos on its daily schedule, thanks to the massive show of support from the online creator community.
For the next two full weeks, influencers from across platforms, ranging from the Costco Guys and Joe Bartolozzi to Vexbolts and Airrack, each took turns voicing H00pify’s videos. Each creator attempted to recreate the same signature structure of H00pify’s viral videos, but added their own twist, keeping De Tolla’s presence alive while he healed from his vocal cord injury.
These collaborations not only helped to keep his channel alive, but it led to the expansion of its reach as well. Viewers were introduced to new creators, and in turn, those new creators brought their own audience over to H00pify.
In a world where social media and the internet is often criticized for creating isolation and toxicity, the heartwarming movement to help a fellow creator out became an example of what social media can do at its best, which is to bring people together around kindness, community, and creativity.
“I was nervous at first,” De Tolla reflected, “but now that I’m healthy I see it as a blessing in disguise.”
As H00pify returns to making videos in his own voice, his story stands as proof that even in the often chaotic world of social media, connection and compassion can still go viral.
