by. Mariah Estrada
TikTok goes the clock. Three STHS students reflect on their time on the social media app TikTok. One loses track of the clock, another didn’t lose the minute hand, and a third find social media a great way to connect with friends.
TikTok is a social media app where you can make 15 to 60 second long videos with sounds playing in the background. It may not sound very interesting, but for some reason current high school students are all about it. What is it about this app that draws these students in? What makes it so entertaining, and why are people on the app for hours at a time? Maybe because TikTok has no stopping point. It goes on and on for what seems like forever.
Adriana Villa Palomar is one out of the three that actively is on TikTok and makes content. Villa Palomar originally heard about the app from Swedish Youtuber, Pewdiepie, but she also thinks that the videos on TikTok are funny. Villa Palomar said, “there is no end to the ‘For You’ page.” She says, “that is one of the reasons the app is so addictive.” The “For You” page is the main feed where random videos are shown, but there's no end to it. It goes on forever and it's quite a rabbit hole.
People like seeing the number of views and likes to go up on content they make, and once they see that they're being noticed they'll continue to make videos.
Daniel Taft also has an account. He spent a whopping ten minutes on the app before deleting it. He doesn’t think the videos are funny, and he just isn't very interested in the app. Taft said, “I didn't think it was a valid use of my time.” But he also believes that just because he didn't like it, it doesn't mean others wouldn't. Taft said, “I think it really resonates with people and how they want to feel.” He believes that is a reason teens become so involved with the app.
Gage Younger didn't have an account or the app. He wasn't a fan or even interested in downloading the app. He had watched a few TikToks on Instagram and thought they were funny, but rarely thought about downloading TikTok. Recently, he was convinced by a friend to download the app. Funnily enough, he now spends hours on the app scrolling through the “For You” page and sending people TikTok videos he likes. Before he had the app, he said, “I think people get addicted because it’s so easy to use.” In a follow-up interview, he said, “It’s so easy to navigate around. You just scroll and watch and it’s easy to send videos I like to friends.”
TikTok can get you addicted whether it be because of the idea of thousands of views and followers or because it can keep a user’s attention for hours. If they end up enjoying the app, they'll stick to it until they find something newer and better.
