Students find value in social media platform called ‘Tik Tok’

What started off as an app called Musically has now turned into one of the most popular social media site among teens, now called Tik Tok. According to oberlo.com, 500 million people per month use the app. Tik Tok is for many different forms of entertainment, either for creating the videos or watching the videos others have posted. Many students use Tik Tok for a way to catch up on new trends and slang.

 Sophomores Jacey Yager, Linda Shine, Luke Hirsh and junior Myriah Nicholson have used the app from 2016 when it was launched and called Musically. They all use the app for both watching and making humorous videos, occasionally posting a dance video. Tik Tok is a way for students to connect with others and create comical content. 

“I started when it was called musically. But like, I’m not with it like that. Just eighth grade, but I deleted it and then downloaded it again because it’s just funny now,” Nicholson said. 

Tik Tok has the stereotype of being an app for girls to post dance videos, but that is not always the case. Hirsh is an example of a male who uses the app for a way to find memes and humorous slang that is trending. 

“I like to use Tik Tok because it gets me all the girls,” Hirsh said, “I have like, eight Tik Tok girlfriends at the moment,”

Tik Tok could be considered as an addictive app.  Hirsh and Nicholson confirm that they spend around one to two hours on the app. Although Nicholson, Hirsh, and Yager all claim that they use the app less than other social media. 

“I use it less than Snapchat, I’d say,” Yager said, “because Snapchat is where I talk to all of my friends,”

Tik Tok starts many trends that show up throughout schools and on social media. A very popular trend that started on Tik Tok is the VSCO girl with the Hydro Flask and scrunchies. Not just clothing trends but dance trends are started, for example, the song “Obsessed” by Myriah Carey accompanied with a short 10 second dance, the same dance that the male cheerleaders performed at the last pep rally. 

“I like to watch the videos because I find them very comical but I also like the dance videos, I think they’re fun,” Yager said.