Virtual gifts became a core part of TikTok Live as viewers began buying coins to send roses, galaxies and other animated items to creators during broadcasts. Each gift triggers its own visual and audio cue, and recordings of those cues spread beyond the app into edits, parodies and soundboards. The gifts sound is now recognised even outside a live stream, where creators use it as shorthand for online support, tipping culture and the playful competition among fans to get noticed by a streamer they follow.