TikTok is a social media app that has gone viral recently. The platform allows for public videos to be posted with people doing challenges or having fun. For many, it brings back memories of Musical.ly which was shut down in 2017 and replaced by TikTok. With over 110 million downloads in the US alone it is a big thing. TikTok videos range from dancing, sports highlights, and even cute videos of dogs. Although there is a policy stating no discrimination or hate speech, there are many racial and homophobic jokes that many take offense to. TikTok has a positive effect on youth as these negative jokes are non-unique to TikTok.

One popular stream is tutorials on how to do stuff. There are baking tutorials, how to do specific art projects and even how to groom your dog correctly. These tutorials are proven helpful and can make you happy as you learn a new thing. There are also videos of strange things you do, which flood back memories of childhood and all the silly and relatable things you may have done; like trying to balance the light switch in between off and on. TikTok is a platform for showcasing your talents and a very popular one is dancing. This is the original reason why people started using TikTok as you could make a quick video and put some modern music in and showcase it with millions of people. Every week there are new challenges including the kiki challenge or the zoom challenge. These TikToks can make songs go viral as they have a few lyrics that make it perfect for a TikTok. As any social media platform, there is an animal section with owners posting cute videos of their pets dressed up or saying messages. These videos warm your heart and make you long for your pet or to get one. People also raise awareness around the acceptance of people, like teens sitting with an autistic kid at lunch who was having a hard day, and this simply made him happy again. These actions can help a person’s life as some videos create go fund me pages for people who need them. These videos reach millions of people and can change a person’s life. TikTok is an open platform for anyone, so naturally, there are people at SPA who have TikTok channels. Students are generally spreading good messages through their videos, mainly posting dance videos and challenges. Students should continue this and not discriminate or hate on people but rather enjoy the app for what it can offer. 

TikTok, on the whole, is a good influence on teens compared to other social media platforms. It promotes self-value and the image of love and happiness, which can make a person’s day. TikTok is an excellent app to spend time on and it requires very little background knowledge to understand what is happening. 

Watch The Rubicon content on Tik Tok @therubiconspa.