Abraham Beglin / Hambeglin

About

Abraham Beglin, also known as @hambeglin on TikTok, refers to a TikToker who appears to be an older, British man who posts photo slideshows on the app that either show lonely, depressive selfies with beer or photos of him and his other, dad-age friends at the pub or at home having fun. Abraham Beglin gained a mass following on TikTok and Instagram in late 2022 and early 2023, mostly due to the contrast between his apparently old age and the savvy, Gen Z signifiers of his TikTok content. As he grew a following, many became skeptical of Abraham Beglin's age and identity, believing that he was editing and photoshopping his photographs using the age filter on FaceApp.

Online History

On August 7th, 2022, TikToker^[1] hambeglin posted his first video, simply being a photo of John Deere tractor and a text-to-speech voice singing, "John Deere tractor." The video received roughly 47,900 plays and over 400 likes in five months. On August 8th, 2022, he posted a TikTok^[2] that showed his face for the first time, gaining roughly 111,000 plays and 1,800 likes in five months (shown below).

Soon after, on August 10th, 2022, TikToker^[3] hambeglin posted his first photo slideshow on the app, writing in text overlay on the first photo, "At simons funeral party." The rest of the photos were selfies that described what else he did at "simons funeral party." Over the course of five months, the slideshow received roughly 869,200 plays and 78,500 likes (photos shown below).

On August 13th, 2022, TikToker^[4] hambeglin posted a slideshow that was his first to receive over 1 million plays, earning roughly 2.9 million plays and 329,000 likes in five months. The slideshow was about making a "big bowl of crab" for his friends (primary photo shown below, left). On the next day, August 14th, 2022, TikToker^[5] hambeglin posted another slideshow that received over 1 million plays, gaining roughly 3.3 million plays and 350,000 likes in five months. The slideshow was about him leaving his wife and boarding a flight while barefoot (primary photo shown below, right).

Going into the remainder of 2022, hambeglin continued earning mass engagement on his photo slideshows. Over time, certain themes emerged in hambeglin's slideshows such as mourning his deceased son, hanging out with his friends, being British and documenting lonely nights spent drinking with his cat Dave. For instance, on October 7th, 2022, TikToker^[6] hambeglin posted a slideshow in which he's seen drinking "wine and limoncello" alone with his cat, gaining roughly 2 million plays and 276,500 likes in three months (photos shown below).

Age Filter Accusations

As TikToker hambeglin gained a following, skepticism arose in regard to his actual age. For instance, on November 29th, 2022, TikToker^[7] mr_big_red_shirt posted a video that screen-recorded a specific progression of FaceApp filters used on one image of Beglin's alleged son. The first FaceApp filter shown was a "Face Swap" with Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson. Then, he used the "Glasses" filter that added eyeglasses to the edited face. The result appeared to be Abraham Beglin. Over the course of a month and a half, TikToker^[8] mr_big_red_shirt's video received roughly 77,200 plays and 6,900 likes (shown below).

Following

Over the course of five months, Abraham Beglin amassed roughly 445,700 followers on TikTok^[8] and roughly 7,200 followers on Instagram.^[9]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References