TikTok: the time is now

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Sanchita Teeka, Forum Editor

TikTok is one of the internet’s most popular apps right now, with over one billion users around the world. It has even been ranked as the most downloaded app of 2019. TikTok is especially popular with the younger generation who use it to create lip-sync videos, short comedy sketches, parodies, and much more. For all it is used for, TikTok has been taking over social media. 

TikTok was originally named Musical.ly when it was initially released in April of 2014. Initially a lip-syncing app, it gained popularity and was acquired by the Chinese company ByteDance in 2017. They absorbed Musical.ly into their own app called TikTok. While there was no technical change from this transition Musical.ly and TikTok, most users would agree that a huge cultural shift of content occurred. 

As a user of Musical.ly through the transition to TikTok, I can say the contents of the app has changed for the better. Musical.ly’s content heavily focused on lip-syncing and PG-13 content, for lack of better words. Thankfully, this has changed, and TikTok’s content now revolves around comedy and epic dance challenges. 

TikTok has become a place for people of all ages to show off their many talents. For me, TikTok has become a place where I can create mini comedy sketches and have fun.  TikTok’s content has such high quality that has been dubbed the new ‘Vine’, a popular previously existing short video app. Vine was shut down because of a lack of quality content and spamming, but TikTok has become the new source for such content. 

TikTok has also become known for its addictiveness as people all over the world cannot get enough of it. In fact, 90 percent of TikTok users use the app daily and on average, spend almost an hour each day on the app, making, watching, sharing, and creating videos. 

Honestly, I love TikTok, and it has become one of my favorite activities, I encourage everyone to check it out for themselves. There is content for everyone of all ages and backgrounds. TikTok is competing with big players such as Youtube, Instagram, and Snapchat on the big markets. When it comes down to it, TikTok is unique in its purpose aiming at content creators, allowing anyone to gain some fame. If you haven’t taken a look into it, I highly recommend it because even though TikTok can be addicting, it is worth it.