New kid on the tok Mum Donna Whelan says son Jacob's new-found TikTok fame is 'only the beginning'

"It's only the beginning," says mum Donna Whelan about her son Jacob's new-found social media fame.

The four-year-old became an overnight sensation after Donna (31) began sharing videos of his many amusing ruminations to TikTok at the end of January.

In just two months, the @keepingupwithjacob account garnered 1.4 million followers with 31.2 million likes across all videos.

Their most popular video, a clip of Jacob discovering the excitement of having a birthday every year, has raked in more than 60 million views to date.

When Donna decided to post her first video to TikTok on January 20, she had no idea that her son would go viral.

"It's just so crazy that it's grown so fast," she told the Sunday World.

"I didn't really know much about TikTok but I started posting videos just for fun to see how they go. I was just doing it for fun.

"I've always recorded Jacob from when he was a baby. I have so many videos so it's not anything new. I posted some of his videos to Facebook for my friends and I'd get comments saying Jacob made their day or he cheers them up and they'd always ask, 'What's the latest update on Jacob today?'

"Recording Jacob has always made me laugh and cheered me up. I was just interested to see if other people would enjoy his videos as much as I do."

Donna believes people enjoy her videos because of how Jacob's personality shines through.

"I think they're so popular because it's quite natural. It's just our little chats and the way we are together.

"Kids are very funny at Jacob's age. I'm just capturing the moments. It's all very natural. It's not scripted, it's just our chats. It's just him being himself. He really is an old soul, that's the best way I can describe him.

"Jacob is very smart, funny, clever, cheeky and I like to show all that. We're just trying to make people laugh and smile and spread some positivity."

Jacob has captured the hearts of people all over the world thanks to the power of TikTok, even grabbing the attention of famous faces like singer Conor Maynard and Love Island winner Greg O'Shea.

"It's so crazy that he's reached everywhere around the globe. I posted a video saying, 'Everyone in the world is watching you right now.'

"Everybody's been commenting from America, the Philippines, Canada, the UK, Indonesia, Australia, South Africa, India. It's mad.

"Imelda May shared some of our videos on to her story and she commented. She's lovely and a great singer as well. We were delighted.

"Jedward messaged me too saying Jacob is a legend and hopefully he's on The Late Late Show soon. We love their positivity.

"It's all been so positive. They've all said that [the videos] make their day and they look at our TikToks if they're having a bad day and it cheers them up. There are loads of really nice comments.

"Even some of the compliments on my parenting. It's nice to hear that I'm a great mam, it's lovely to hear those compliments from everybody. It lifts my mood up getting all these comments about Jacob and myself. It's really lovely."

Jacob is still getting used to his new celebrity status, especially now that people have started to recognise him while out and about.

"He's still quite shy at the moment because it's still so new. He's wondering why people are stopping him to say hi. I've had to explain to him that all these people are coming up to him because they're watching his videos.

"We went to the playground the other day and we had a load of kids run over to us saying hi. They were all delighted because he gave them a high-five and made their day. They were so happy to meet him.

"It's so funny because even adults would come over and say, 'Oh my God, the little boy from TikTok! Can I have a high-five?' and they're delighted with themselves. It's crazy!

"The other day he said to me, 'Mammy, I'm not famous. I'm just an ordinary boy.'"

As for what's next for the pair, Donna said that she'd love to involve Jacob's baby sister Maisie in future TikToks.

"I'd love to post videos of his little sister. She's quite quiet at the moment but her little personality is growing. I'd love to show him with his sister, how good he is with her. He's such a great brother, he really is."