By: Elise Stefankiewicz
In the ordinary life of teenagers, it is almost instinctive to wake up and check your phone. Inevitably, you grasp that addicting device and see what you convinced yourself you missed overnight. TikTok is an app that I´m sure each one of you has. Once you tap it, you are automatically opened up to a whole new world of creators and content. As addictive as it can be, whether you are watching the videos or making them yourself, if the app wasn't on your phone, you might struggle to understand an exchange between everyday teenagers.
According to TechAhead´s article on the app, it is known that the platform has 600 million downloads worldwide and happens to be the 4th most downloaded app in the world. The app’s popularity took off in 2019, when it became a competition among friends to go viral on the platform. The app has thrived because it is fun, that's all there is to it. The videos that you watch either make you laugh, are heartwarming, or make you get up and learn a new dance. The app is prominent because it is so widespread and honestly, has no rules. The community of people who have gone viral from the content they have put out on the app are given extreme opportunities and partnerships. Charli D'amelio is the most followed person on the app, with 91.8 million followers but that will probably change by tomorrow. She has had many brand deals with Hollister, Morphe, and Orosa Beauty. She is sponsored by Dunkin Donuts and has her own drink on the menu, and almost everyone knows who she is. But without the app TikTok, no one would.
This platform holds an extreme amount of power in our generation and on social media. Influencers, huge brands, and well known celebrities have also joined in on putting out content on the app, which makes fans want to go on TikTok to see more of them. Trends and creators have changed what we do on our phones and how we go about our everyday lives. The dances are probably the biggest trends on the app. 31.3 million videos have been made under the sound, which shows that not only are the dances causing a huge trend, but so are music artists' streams. Other than a new dance trending every week, the app's audience and creators also do other trends like tie dye, the ghost trend, the mirror trend, pranks, and reaction videos.
All of these things that stream the “for you” page have shaped our generation into what it is today. For some TikTok is a news source, used to keep track of what is going on in the world. For some, it is a fun way to get up and learn a new dance. TikTok is an outlet, a new way to express yourself and has shaped our world into what it is today.
Resources:
“How TikTok Has Changed the Social Media Game.” TechAhead, 11 Sept. 2020, www.techaheadcorp.com/blog/tiktok-changed-social-media/.
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