If you’ve been on the entertainment app TikTok, you’ve most likely seen the “Signal for Help.” The hand gesture was created by the Canadian Women’s Foundation, and their official website says the signal was made as a response to “the social isolation measures necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The gesture made headlines when it was used by a North Carolina teen who was reported missing by her parents on Nov. 2. She made the hand gesture to a motorist on the interstate who proceeded to call the police once he noticed the young girl was in distress.
“There were some people behind her that noticed she was making hand gestures that signified ‘I need help.’” Dep. Gilbert Acciardo said during a press conference. “With them recognizing that signal, they notified 911.”
To make the signal, simply raise your hand up as if you are showing the number five, tuck your thumb into your palm, and fold your other fingers down to cover your thumb.
According to the Canadian Women’s Foundation, the gesture was created with a specific focus on people using services like Zoom during the age of the pandemic.
Elizabeth Barajas-Román, president and CEO of the Women’s Funding Network, an umbrella group for over 130 women’s empowerment organizations including the Canadian Women’s Foundation, explained that the sign increases awareness of other means of communicating help.
“Quarantine completely isolated everyone, so [the Canadian Women’s Foundation], was hearing that there was a need for another way,” Barajas-Román. “There’s hotlines and other things that are still really great tools, but there was a need for another way to be able to reach out. And we were all on Zoom, so it was like, well, this is a non-verbal, visual way for people to say they need help.”
She also explained that the organization considered the role media platforms would play in popularizing the gesture.
“We [needed] something that was visual and transferable in a way like social media, and other types of visual ways that people could take in so they could learn about it and what to do,” Barajas-Román said. “Sometimes making a phone call is one of the hardest things to do, and oftentimes you have to explain yourself. We needed multiple tools.”
The phrase #signalforhelp now has over 23 million views on TikTok. This is not the first time the app has been used to assist in dangerous situations. In one incident, a user saved a TikToker who crashed his four-wheeler while live streaming. Another example involved viewers who warned a man about his potentially dangerous skin mole. Because of the users’ reactions, the TikToker got the appropriate medical attention. These recent videos prove the multifaceted nature of apps like TikTok.