A TikTok creator is making big bucks from videos that poke fun at the darker parts of California.
Diana Regan (@pordian cities), an Oakland-based content creator, has amassed 130,000 followers and 6.2 million fans by posting satirical videos mocking American cities, particularly those located in the Golden State.
By combining Google Earth imagery, personal footage, and AI-generated narration, Regan creates stunning renditions of California cities.
After being laid off from her job as an account executive in the SEO industry last year, she found a way to turn her creative outlet into a source of income.
She told SFGATE she makes about $1,400 a month, not including her sponsored content which brings in between $500 and $1,500 each.
Diana Regan (@citiesbydiana), an Oakland-based content creator, has amassed 130,000 followers and 6.2 million followers by posting satirical videos mocking American cities, particularly those located in the Golden State.
After being laid off from her job as an account executive in the SEO industry last year, she found a way to turn her creative outlet into a source of income.
“I decided to take that format and turn it on its head,” she told DailyMail.com, adding that she writes and edits all of her own content.
‘They’re usually silly parodies of the absurdity of urban design in the US, particularly how car-dependent many cities are, and I often include fun facts about interesting and positive things about those places as well.’
At first, her videos didn’t make her enough money to become a full-time content creator, so she had to live off her savings to survive.
“But when I first started monetizing, I was only expecting to make $50-$100 a month at most,” she told DailyMail.com. “I’m definitely not making anywhere near what I was making from my full-time job, but I’ve been able to make ends meet with a combination of ad revenue on the platform, some fan donations, merch sales, sponsorships, savings, and various odd jobs.”
Their success has attracted the attention of politicians and state officials who have not only shared their videos but also taken notes on what they could do better.
“Tired of public transportation cheating you? Living in a walkable city making you miserable? If you’re a princess of oil-covered pavement like me, visit San Jose, California,” she mocked in one of her TikToks. videos .
“Are environmentalists shaming you into buying an electric car? Love Texas but still want to get an abortion every now and then? Come gas up in Bakersfield, California,” she said in another message.
Regan doesn’t just mock AI-generated content, she embodies it. By disguising herself as a “typical American conservative,” she satirizes the country’s obsession with infrastructure.
By combining Google Earth imagery, personal footage, and AI-generated narration, Regan creates stunning renditions of California cities.
Two of her The Instagram reels, which poke fun at “true freedom” with traffic jams in the Bay Area, have collectively racked up nearly two million views.
“I had no idea so many of these things would resonate with someone,” Regan said. Gate of Saint Francis“I started creating content just for fun and it really took off.”
These types of videos are what earned him a sponsorship from Hedra, a website that helps people create videos using artificial intelligence. Although he has been offered dozens of ads, he says he turns down 90% of them because they don’t pay enough or wouldn’t resonate with his audience.
Additionally, these videos poking fun at how local politicians view public infrastructure have caught the attention of influencers, including Assemblywoman Alex Lee, who represents California’s 24th District, and South Lake Tahoe City Councilmember Scott Robbins, who have shared their videos.
“His scathing satire of our ‘one more lane will solve traffic forever’ car-centric development paradigm should be required reading for anyone working in state and local government, especially here in California,” Robbins told SFGATE.
Robbins noted that Regan’s satirical character, “Lane Man,” who is obsessed with solving traffic by adding more lanes, is alarmingly similar to real-world solutions.
Algorithms are constantly changing, making a video’s success unpredictable, he said.
Creators are under pressure to replicate viral hits, while platforms like TikTok cut revenue without explanation and the increasing focus on commercial and harmless content is plaguing the creative efforts of content creators.
“I’ll be honest, that part DOES hold back my creativity a lot,” Regan told DailyMail.com. “On Instagram, I can pretty much post anything I want and be successful, but on TikTok, with every video, it’s like starting from scratch.
“On TikTok, though, when a viral trend happens in a format that works, the algorithm incentivizes you to do it over and over again until people get tired of it. So I’m always trying to find that balance between content that people know and what they expect while trying new things.”
“They’re pushing creators to become product sellers rather than authentically sharing their passion with viewers,” Regan said.
“Luckily I’ve been able to make up for a lot of this thanks to the unexpected success I’ve seen on Instagram lately, but it hasn’t been easy.”
Currently, he makes around $1,400 per month from both Instagram and TikTok, and does a combination of content creation and odd jobs to survive.
But she remains busy, posting several videos a week on the most popular topics. Her ultimate goal, she said, is to increase her organic reach so much that she is no longer forced to create content she knows the algorithm will push.
“The goal is primarily to make people laugh and maybe think about the absurdity of the environment we live in,” Regan said, “but also to explore the internal conflict that many of us have: we love our cars, we enjoy the convenience, but we also know that the way we plan our cities is detrimental in the long run.”
