A couples weeks ago, I finally joined the bandwagon and got a TikTok account. I never wanted to get one because TikToks are typically geared to a younger generation. My 14 year old sister has a TikTok and actually makes them and tries to become famous. I thought that was so cringe, so I told myself I would never get one but then things changed. I have seen some dumb things on their but what I think is cool about TikTok is that if I make a reference to meme or video that I saw on their, people always comment "Hey I saw that on Tik Tok!". I just think its funny how different songs or memes, people reference relate back to this app. A main reason I got TikTok is because I saw so many of them on other social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram and I got curious and had to check it out. My experience with TikTok is all positive, I go on this app to make myself laugh and I end up being sucked into watching these short videos for hours. I think this social media app is definitely geared to high schoolers like my sister but I find some of the videos entertaining yet vulgar. What makes me question this social media site is it is supposed to be designed for kids in high school and middle school but some of the stuff is NOT age appropriate on there for them. I don't know maybe its just the content that I have seen but some of those videos are not okay for at least middle schoolers to watch. I almost think its weird seeing people making TikToks who are 25+ because this app really is directed for young kids. During my time in high school Vine was the major short video media platform. I absolutely loved Vine, and I used to make them all the time. Vine walked so TikTok could run and full on believe that. The fact that Vine was shut down makes me upset, especially all of the vines I've ever made I can't access anymore. I wanna look back on my young self doing stupid things from high school but no the app had to be deleted off the internet which makes me upset.
I saw an article in the New York times that talked about how TikTok is changing our social media platforms and I 110% agree with that statement. TikTok does away with many of the assumptions other social platforms have been built upon. It questions the primacy of individual connections and friend networks. It embraces central control rather than pretending it doesn’t have it. TikTok’s real influence going forward may be that the other social media platforms decide that our friends were simply holding us back from not getting the app. This article is stating that people were to quick to judge this app because it has become extremely popular with 1 billion users on this app. Users who are on TikTok are from the ages of 15-24, as I said no one over 25 should be making TikToks. The app has spawned numerous viral trends and internet celebrities around the world, propelled songs to fame, and is known to be popular among celebrities due to its popularity and social influence. All of this talk about TikTok makes me wonder what is going to be the next big phenomenon?
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/10/style/what-is-tik-tok.html
I remember when Muscially was first re-branded as Tik Tok, and I thought it was the dumbest thing ever because I knew it as a platform for content creators like Jacob Sartorius, which was cringey for me. But once I downloaded it because my younger sister kept sending them to me, I also got sucked in. I would (and still do) watch them for hours on end just to pass the time. Is it okay to be doing that? Probably not. Could I be spending my time doing something more productive, like homework? Yeah, definitely. But, I keep finding myself sending videos to the group chats with my friends for hours.
ReplyDeleteI think even though the app is designed for middle school/high school aged children, adults being on there was inevitable. Just like MySpace and Facebook, adults always seem to find their way onto these applications and using them just like the younger generation(s) on there do. Even now, I will sometimes see middle aged people on the for you page, and they're popular creators. So, I think adults signing up for accounts might seem a bit strange, but every social media app goes through it.