The World of TikTok

The World of TikTok

Janvi Patel, Science/Health/Technology Editor

TikTok. Ever heard of it? Obviously, you have. And there is a one in seven chance that you are one of 1 billion users of TikTok worldwide. In the past two years, TikTok has blown up to be one of the most popular social media apps of all time. Especially during quarantine, when many people were bored at home all day, the platform grew, encompassing users of all ages, not just teenagers. Now, people go around making TikTok references that most people around them also understand.

TikTok is the perfect way for users to see content catered to their interests. ForYou pages are where videos that the user will likely enjoy pop up. TikTok gains this information about their users through their liked and saved videos. TikTok also serves as a way for people to express their creativity in the form of videos, giving them the chance to gain many followers. The app has created celebrities influencers out of many ordinary people.

TikTok has different phases when certain trends are very popular. One very popular trend was the adult swim trend where people created short clips that mirrored those that were played on breaks during the Adult Swim programming on the Cartoon Network. It reminded many people of their childhood and seeing those ads as kids. Other trends include dancing trends where people do choreographed dances to popular songs. Some creators make skits or comedy videos that entertain their followers. 

Unfortunately, TikTok is not always fun and games. Cancel culture has become much more prevalent due to TikTok. Cancel culture is when many people join together to “cancel” or hate on a certain person. This tends to happen frequently to famous people on the app, and they feel constantly attacked because of every small thing they do.

Nonetheless, TikTok still serves as a great outlet for people’s creativity and as a form of entertainment.