Nearly 18 months after the Oakhill Cemetery Association launched its account on the popular social media site TikTok, the historic southeast Cedar Rapids cemetery is still waiting for its first follower.
Association officials expressed surprise and disappointment that no one was following the account for the cemetery, which is the burial site for local luminaries including members of the Douglas family, Cedar Rapids founder George Greene, and painter Marvin Cone.
“I’m really not sure why we aren’t trending right now,” said Association President Maynard Folksworth. “I mean, there are two billion active users on TikTok. Surely someone is interested in learning more about this historic treasure.”
Folksworth said the Cemetery Association recognized in 2023 the need to appeal to a younger demographic and hired Kirkwood Community College non-traditional social media student Uri Karkov to manage the Association’s social media accounts. Folksworth said Karkov is doing a good job, “although I think the language barrier creates a bit of a challenge.”
Despite the lackluster engagement, Folksworth did not anticipate making any changes to the Association’s TikTok outreach.
“I’m sure that first subscriber is out there somewhere,” he said. “It’s not like we’re going anywhere.”
