TikTok has become one of the most popular social media services, with over 1.5 billion downloads on the App Store and Google and 800 million monthly users.
The app once most famous for its lip-syncing videos (back when it was known as Musical.ly) has since been compared to the beloved defunt app Vine.
TikTok has become more popular because virtually anyone can go viral on the app, regardless of follower count. TikTok contains a smorgasbord of different content, namely relatable comedy skits, point of view and plenty of dancing.
“I Want to be TikTok Famous!”
Paul Kim, a sophomore at Georgia State, has amassed 88,000 followers on TikTok. The content he creates generally involves relatable comedy and point-of-view videos.
TikTok’s millions of users share the same internet, and novel content can be difficult to create. However, Kim makes sure his content is a new spin on popular trends and ideas.
“I take about a couple of scrolls through my ‘For You’ page to motivate me to make content,” Kim said. “Then, it’s really about how I set up my camera and the context of what I’m recording.”
For a lot of TikTok users, using the app has become like a job.
“Some people pay me to create content in general,” Kim said. “People can pay me to use their songs or sounds.”
TikTok has created an interesting relationship with the music industry. Popular songs on TikTok have topped Spotify and Apple Music charts and receive airtime on the radio.
Some TikTok content creators and musical artists work in a mutually beneficial relationship to expand their audiences. The TikTok creator benefits from views and followers, and the musician has a viral dance associated with one of their songs.
When a popular TikTok user employs a song for a dance they created, and the dance becomes popular across TikTok, that song will have become popular enough to land that TikTok star on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
Don’t Feed the Trolls
Sam Rariden is a student at Georgia State with 60,000 followers on TikTok.
Rariden’s content incorporates internet meme culture and satire. To successfully create this type of content, using trending audio clips is imperative.
TikTok humor is multilayered, like most internet humor. Not only should the creator have a punchline, but the audio must assist the premise of the joke.
For Rariden, TikTok is less an occupation and more a safe space for self-expression among people with similar interests.
“I genuinely do it because it’s fun,” Rariden said. “I feel a sense of community with other nonbinary creators and followers, and I think it’s important for me to be representing them.”
Unfortunately, TikTok is not without its fair share of internet trolls, and their comments can be vile and insensitive, sometimes enough to drive Rariden off the app altogether.
“Sometimes, I decide to take a break from it after a while because of the hate comments I get,” Rariden said.
The craze over TikTok is far from dying, as the novel coronavirus has forced people to stay inside, and inevitably, on TikTok.
The further quarantine goes on, more and more Panthers might find themselves doing numbers on TikTok.
