“TikTok is for teens I’m not gonna download it” is how most of my conversations about the platform went in 2019. Turn to 2020, it seems like everyone is now using it and posting dancing videos.
We’ve seen the rise of multiple social platforms over the years that had promising starts yet seemed to fail. Platforms like, YikYak, Vine, iTunes Ping, Google+, Vero, etc. (YikYak was one of my personal favorites and I kinda wish it was still around). Vine was the closest to success before getting shut down by Twitter who couldn’t figure out what to do with itafter acquiring the platform. I don’t necessarily know why Vine got shut down or why many of these social platforms fail, but after using TikTok for a few months and building an audience of 170K+ followers, I can tell you why it’s becoming more popular and why it’s here to stay.
People are sick of current social media platforms
In a world of highly curated feeds and platforms pushing news content meant to tear us apart, TikTok offers something different. Users making jokes, dancing, tutorials, people hyping each other up, and quality that may seem low but is actually raw and real. Even the comments tend to have a more light hearted approach. **TikTok is the only social platform you can go on and feel like you’re escaping reality for a bit. I kinda get the same feeling after watching a Netflix show. It feels like I went on a mini vacation and although it wasn’t the best use of time, I generally felt good afterwards. **Or at least not totally drained and depressed like I do after using Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Raw (Real) content is what people want
Although there are filters and effects on TikTok, content shared on the platform feels more raw and real than anywhere else on the internet. Instagram tried to create this with stories so people would feel they could post more, and it was somewhat successful. But anyone sharing Instagram stories knows they’re still considering what to post a lot, and no one is posting nowhere near the kind of raw stuff seen on TikTok. There’s literally people dancing (who aren’t dancers) sharing 15 second videos of themselves moving to Doja Cat’s ‘Say So’. Seems like something they’d maybe record in the past and text to a friend as a joke, but definitely not post on Instagram or a social media. I don’t think it gets anymore unfiltered than that.
#tech #social-media #apps #trends #tiktok-app