Michelle Groskopf

Famous “tiktokers” are called “microcelebrities” by CNN “either because they are very famous for a short time, or well-known for something very specific to a very specific group of people.” TikTok has been known for enabling anyone with a cell phone the ability to reach a large audience.

 TikTok is available in over 160 countries, has over 1.1 billion users, and has the largest audience of 143.4 million people in the United States according to Statista. The app was created in 2016 and allows users to create and share short videos. 

     In the app’s early days as Musical.ly, it was mainly used for lip-syncing and dancing. But, since its creation, Tiktok has developed into one of the most popular social media platforms ever. From cooking videos to monologues to comedy, the app has evolved to be more than what was intended. While there are some benefits to this development, issues have increased as well.

     For example, after ByteDance purchased the platform in 2018 came the name change and content evolution. One of the most appealing factors of the app is the For You page (FYP). According to Wired, this is “an endless stream of videos uniquely tailored to each user.” Just like the home page on other social media platforms, the FYP recommends videos that they think the user will want to see.

     Senior Carly Dryer is an avid Tiktok user who spends at least “five hours a day” on the app. She explains that this occurs “before bed, in the morning, at school, all the time.” On her For You page, she mostly watches short videos including “animals, dances and food mukbangs.” According to the student’s testimony, in none of the five hours spent on the app does she learn anything of importance. There is no educational or uplifting content being displayed to Dryer and other TikTok users alike.

     Senior Thomas Stolz is not on TikTok and believes that constant use of the software “destroys your attention span.” Stolz is also a straight-A student, which may be correlated to his focus on his own reality rather than the fictions that are presented on social media.

     Another concern with the app is that because the parent company, ByteDance, is headquartered in Beijing, China and incorporated in the Cayman Islands, there may be political foul play. Due to this opinion, the American government engaged in a hearing investigating the platform in an attempt to ban the app in the United States. Things have been quiet in Congress regarding the app since the hearing.

     Still, Wired reports that “ByteDance says that 60 percent of its shares are owned by non-Chinese investors such as U.S. investment firms Carlyle Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Japan’s SoftBank Group. Employees own 20 percent and its founders the remaining 20 percent.”