The TikTok app has been grabbing the attention of teenagers all over the world. This new media app has more than half a billion active users and a net worth of 500 million dollars. People all over have been downloading this short-form video platform in hopes of becoming “TikTok famous,” the ultimate goal of any true TikToker. The app is being used by everyone, from people in China to teenagers in our very own school. In November 2017, ByteDance had gained $1 billion from the app Musical.ly before it was absorbed into its sister app, TikTok. The new version of the app has incorporated aspects of both programs. For example, this new version merges the lip-synching aspect of Musical.ly and the comedic aspect of TikTok. The Tik Tok app was originally developed to enable users to share ideas. Gradually, it evolved to fifteen-second dance, comedy, and story-time videos. Many trends are found in TikTok videos: food, dancing, singing, sports, and story-times. The most popular category is dancing. Your recommended videos can be found on the “For You Page”, a page located on your home screen, where others can discover the videos of fellow TikTokers and, most importantly, laugh along to the trends appearing. Recently, the most apparent trends tend to be the “Why are you so obsessed with me” trend, which is a dance created by @reesehardy_ to the song “Obsessed” by Mariah Carey, and the Point of View trend created by @weirdfl3x to the song “New Flesh” by Current Joys. While most trends are dances, like the “Obsessed” trend mentioned above, the P.O.V. trend is different. In the POV trend, teenagers pretend to be in different situations in the 1980s. 

Tiktok brings an abundance of happiness to many kids, teenagers, and even adults. It adapts itself to your interests by noting their previously seen TikToks, which ones you liked, and which ones you did not like. Because of this, users are often caught up in the app for many hours at a time. In talking to my friends, I noticed that their daily average of TikTok usage is around two and a half hours per night and sometimes even more. Isabella Leonard ‘23 exclaimed, “TikTok has consumed my life,” and Annie Kopp ‘23 stated, “On days I don’t have school, I can spend six hours on the app!” A popular misconception is that only freshmen use the app, but many Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors open the program and find themselves engulfed in this fad, as well. TikTok is an excellent procrastination tool because it is hard to stop watching the videos provided. It does not help that most phone models will not show the time while using the program. Although there are negatives, TikTok is still a great place to spread one’s imagination and kindness. This is why everyone in my class and around the world loves it so much. I bet TikTok wonders, “Why are you so obsessed with me?”