Pretty Little Liars A Text Trend on TikTok: What It Is and How to Do It

The Pretty Little Liars A text trend is a fake message you send yourself. You write a shady text signed “-A”, like the anonymous stalker from the show, calling out one of your small habits, then you film yourself doing exactly that. Most videos use a sound called “pll purposes only ty”. The wave started on September 19, 2026. Shay Mitchell joined on the 23rd, and the next day Lucy Hale opened her TikTok account with her own version. If you want yours to travel past your friends, some TikTok views help it clear the first hurdle.

Where does the -A text trend come from?

A, the stalker of Rosewood

Pretty Little Liars is an American teen mystery series based on Sara Shepard’s novels. It ran for seven seasons, from June 2010 to June 2017, on ABC Family, which became Freeform in 2016. After their queen bee Alison disappears, four former friends, Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer, start getting messages from someone who knows every one of their secrets. The first group text lands right after Alison’s funeral and basically says “I’m still here, and I know everything.” Signed “-A”. Who is behind it? We’re not spoiling that for you.

A sound from 2023 and Nia’s video

The trend sound is called “pll purposes only ty”. It’s a 29-second original sound uploaded by an account with the display name demi devito, which has nothing to do with Demi Lovato. Its TikTok ID dates it to November 1, 2023.

It resurfaced on September 19, 2026. That day, @trendbible, an account that tracks rising sounds, posted it with a simple prompt: pretend you’re getting a text from A that says something shady about you. That same night, Nia (@nia.lavine) posted the version that took over: “I saw you dim your brightness and check your account before checkout you brokie -A”. A few days later, NewEngen already counted 1.4 million likes on it. As of September 29, the five-second clip shows 8.7 million views and 2.2 million likes. We still think it’s the best one out there, because everybody has done that exact move at a checkout.

How does the Pretty Little Liars trend work?

The format barely changes. At the top of the screen sits a line in quotation marks, written like a text from A: it talks straight to you and it has seen you. Underneath, you do the very thing it’s calling out. You glance at your phone, a bit nervous, and keep going anyway. The whole thing lasts five to eight seconds.

The laugh comes from being specific. “You eat too much sugar” gets nothing. “You cleaned the whole house instead of doing the one thing you actually had to do”, posted by one creator on September 25, hits almost everyone.

Shay Mitchell and Lucy Hale are back in character

On September 23, Shay Mitchell, who played Emily, posted her take from a London pub, on the demi devito sound: “Pints before noon? London looks good on you, S. I’m still watching. -A”. Her caption: “and so it continues”. People reports she shared the clip on Instagram too. By September 29, the TikTok version had 8.3 million views.

The next day, Lucy Hale, who played Aria, opened her TikTok account with the trend. She sips an iced coffee under the text “Easy on the espresso. You’re already nervous enough. -A”, gives her cup a suspicious look and drinks anyway. Caption: “can’t quit you”. People put it at more than 3.3 million views and 770,000 likes on September 25. By the 29th it was at 6.7 million views and 1.4 million likes. She didn’t use the demi devito sound, though. She went with a five-second original sound posted on September 19 by an account called SOPHIE.

In the comments, fans keep asking for a reunion. Nothing of the sort has been announced: it’s a fan wish, nothing more.

Why is everyone doing it?

First, because you are the target. The trend borrows a stalker’s voice, but you’re the one getting called out, so nobody else gets hurt. Self-deprecation lands far better than yet another video of you at your best.

Second, recognition. When the jab is spot on, people tag their friends in the comments and send the clip around. Those shares push it well beyond your followers, which is how a five-second video ends up with hundreds of thousands of TikTok likes.

Then there’s nostalgia. The people who watched the show in high school are adults now. One account summed it up in a caption on September 25, amazed to still be getting A texts at 30. The format also travels well. A Romanian-language version showed up as early as September 22.

How do you make your own video?

1. Pick your habit: just one, and a specific one. Slightly embarrassing, never serious. Hitting snooze six times, filling a cart and abandoning it.
2. Write A’s text: one or two lines in quotation marks that end on a jab. Put “-A” on its own line underneath.
3. Grab the sound: search “pll purposes only ty” in the sound library, or tap the spinning disc at the bottom right of any video from the trend. SOPHIE’s sound, the one Lucy Hale used, works too.
4. Film the scene: five to eight seconds. Do the thing and look up from your phone like someone is watching. No need to talk.
5. Place the text: use TikTok’s text tool, near the top of the frame, visible from start to finish. Keep your face clear, since your reaction is what people watch.
6. Nail the caption: a bad-faith excuse beats a hashtag. One creator who reused Nia’s line defended herself in the caption: she was only unlocking her Cash App card.
7. Stay the only target: never aim it at a real person. One creator warned in a caption, half joking, that copying A’s meanness too faithfully can get you suspended for bullying.

Which hashtags, and when should you post?

Almost every video in the trend carries #prettylittleliars, often with #pll and #a. Add one hashtag about the habit itself, like #coffee or #shopping. That niche tag is what brings in TikTok followers who actually relate, far more than #fyp does.

Right now, the calendar matters more than the clock. Within days, NewEngen already counted more than 4,800 videos on the sound and advised posting fast. Shay Mitchell and Lucy Hale have given it a second push since then, but the window is closing. As for the time of day, no public study gives a slot for this trend: check your own analytics in the Creator tab and post when your audience is online.

What can brands do with it?

The format suits brands that can laugh at themselves, or at a habit their customers share. On September 25, the fashion account @tessvfashion posted “You said: No more shopping this month. Remember? I do. -A”. The Formula 1 account @thesundaysocietygirls reworked Nia’s line around tickets for the Austin Grand Prix. A coffee shop or a gym could make its own in a morning.

Two traps. Timing first: a brand that shows up a month from now will look late. Tone second. The text should tease a habit everyone has, never a customer someone could recognize. And skip footage from the show, since the text and the signature do the job.