As I’ve been scrolling TikTok over the past couple days since the Met Gala, one of the main things I’ve noticed is how quickly people online and on social media are judging. Even without searching for it, my feed has been full of red carpet clips, ranking videos, and reaction content where people are immediately deciding what they think … who is best dressed, worst dressed, on theme, or not on theme. There’s very little waiting before opinions form.

This year’s theme was “Costume Art,” which already allows for a lot of interpretation. Some looks were very literal, some were more abstract, and others were clearly experimental or tied to fashion history. But online, a lot of that nuance gets reduced pretty quickly into judgments and rankings.

For this live blog, I spent one hour scrolling through TikTok during peak Met Gala coverage and documented what appeared on my feed in real time…how the event was being shown, and how quickly it turned into reaction and commentary. I documented only the most relevant videos I came across, although there were many related Met Gala videos that popped up across my feed during this hour.

The 2026 Met Gala was located at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC on Monday, May 4 & this blog is taking place two days later.

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Logging onto TikTok – 3:15pm

It is two days after the Met Gala, and my TikTok feed is buzzing with coverage. I am logging on, scrolling through a couple of videos that are unrelated.

I come across a video by Vogue France of Nicole Kidman. Nothing crazy, nothing controversial or out of the ordinary. Many of the comments follow a specific theme: her outfit is beautiful, but not on theme.

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Anna Wintour’s entrance – 3:25pm

After what seemed to be a flood of carbon copy videos of other celebrities walking down red carpets and entering the Met, I came across a video of Anna Wintour, who has been the editor-in-chief of Vogue since 1988 until very recently when she stepped down in 2025 to become Condé Nast‘s Global Chief Content Officer.

The comments were split. A lot of people were praising her presence and legacy, but there were also plenty of critical reactions about her look, and others just used this video to criticize Vogue and the Met Gala more broadly.

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CapCut edit – 3:35pm

I came across a CapCut edit that stitched together some of the standout Met Gala looks. It moved quickly between outfits, close ups, and magazine covers, set to a trending audio.

I enjoyed the video, but when I scrolled to the comments I saw users comparing the gala to the Hunger Games to point out how distant or out of touch some of the looks felt from everyday life. Others were more positive and saying it was one of the better compilations they’ve seen.

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Art references – 3:47pm

A video came up breaking down a few Met Gala looks and explaining what they were referencing from art history to designers to the theme itself. In the comments, many people said that this context changed how they saw certain looks, while others still stuck to just liking or disliking them regardless of the explanation.

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Art references CONT… – 3:54pm

A similar video from Entertainment Tonight came up next, showing Met Gala looks side by side with the pieces of art they were inspired by or referencing.

Seeing them next to each other made the connections a lot clearer to viewers, with a lot of people saying how quickly they had judged the outfits without knowing the references, and that the Met Gala should have displayed the artwork alongside the looks to begin with.

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The Devil Wears Prada meme – 3:59pm

Next, I came across a Devil Wears Prada meme. It was a clip that said “who I turn into watching the Met Gala from my couch,” cutting between Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly and real clips of Anna Wintour.

It was not a serious edit and it was actually pretty funny and relatable, but the point was clear: it’s about how quickly people online slip into that same judgmental, critique heavy mindset and know it.

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BBC News investigative piece – 4:06pm

“We all know what happens on the Met Gala red carpet, but what actually happens after that?”

A BBC News investigative video showed up on my feed breaking down what we actually know about the Met Gala, focusing on how secretive it is from the guest list to what happens inside. It leaned into a slightly dystopian angle, and the comments followed that too.

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Worst dressed review – 4:19pm

To end, I ended up on a “worst dressed” video where the creator was pretty blunt in how she broke down some of the Met Gala looks. She didn’t really hold back, and the commentary felt a lot harsher than most of the other content I’d seen during the hour.

In the comments, some people agreed with her takes, but a lot of others pushed back and said she was being too mean and overly judgmental about the outfits.