TIKTOK
A&E
TAKES OVER READ UP — Sophomore Kate Kim makes a TikTok with her friends at school. She makes them during free time in math class. (Photo courtesy of
Rebranded famous app now attracts millions of teens HERAN ESSAYAS MANAGING EDITOR MAYA KALISH FACT CHECKER/AD MANAGER
Kate Kim)
W
alk into a high school bathroom and there might be teenagers dancing in front of their phones. Other teenagers may be lip syncing with friends to make a video in their classrooms. Recently, millions of students began to create videos on the app known as TikTok, which has taken the world by storm. Musical.ly was an app released in late 2014 that instantly hooked everyone from elementary school to adulthood. The app allowed people to lip sync to songs or do dances and allowed everyone to show their creativity. As the trend grew, students everywhere began to create Musical.lys, but the widespread trend faded quickly. In 2017, the company ByteDance purchased Musical.ly and renamed it TikTok. Although remaining the same app, the new version began to attract a different audience. Users, or “musers” as they were called in the age of Musical.ly, continued to use their accounts in conventional ways. New users, though, began to refocus the content on TikTok from lip syncing to humorous videos. “I started [TikTok] as a joke in Spanish because my friends had it and we decided to make them together,” sophomore Megan Williamson said. At McLean, students use TikTok as a form of entertainment. Through videos of people dancing or making skits, TikTok users find ways to make every 15-second video creative. Many, like junior Jessica Lawrence, began using the app as a way to pass time. Lawrence has since become a well-known TikTok user. “It was my first time in American schools, so I did not know many people. In my free time, I decided to go on TikTok, and I thought it was very fun,” Lawrence said. As TikTok users continue to post, they often gain a large number of followers and can receive thousands of likes. The number of followers users have is dependent on the types of videos they post.
“I have around 17k followers. I did not realize that I [was building up a follower count]. It just kind of happened because I started making them,” Lawrence said. “They were getting 400,000 views, and then more people started following me. I was [adding] a thousand followers a day at one point.” Users can submit videos to be posted on the “For You” page, where random videos chosen by the app are featured. These videos often receive tons of likes, with some users gaining over 100,000 likes. TikTok users often have a goal of making it on the “For You” page since they want their video to receive thousands of views or likes. “I have gotten [on the “For You” page], and I’ve been on Instagram meme pages,” senior Lauren Grobman said. Some TikTok users recreate trends on the app to become popular. Recently, students recreated a trend where they show their high school day within 15 seconds. Other popular trends include doing specific dances to certain songs such as “Envy Me” or “Geek’d,” and recreating skits. While Lawrence has taken a break from TikTok fame, she continues to use the app for her enjoyment. Her decision shows the true reason TikTok became popular in the first place—the excitement it creates. “I don’t have a type of TikToks I make. I just don’t make any dancing ones because I am not that great [at it]. I just do whatever I think is funny because I think the best way to make TikToks is to have fun with it,” Lawrence said. Users enjoy the lighthearted environment of the app, since everyone makes what they believe is fun. Whether it is a joke, skit or dance, users are able to display videos they believe are interesting. “I love that everyone on there is so unique and funny,” Lawrence said. “Everyone has their own style of making something, so it could be the exact same sound, and a new person will make it something new and funny.”
Page design by Pran Kittivorapat, Heran Essayas & Maya Kalish
STRIKE A POSE — Senior Lauren Grobman makes a creative TikTok. She made it to the “For You” page and received over 6,000 likes. (Photo courtesy of Lauren Grobman)
DAY IN THE LIFE — Sophomore Megan Williamson makes a TikTok about her day in high school. She hopes to make it on the “For You” page one day. (Photo courtesy of Megan Williamson)
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