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ou walk into your room after a seemingly eternal class, peeved at whomever wouldn’t stop asking questions (that were already answered) and are immediately welcomed home by your roommate, who says nothing as they lifelessly stare into their phone, scrolling through TikTok, muttering the occasional chuckle or “I don’t get it.” This story may seem familiar to you, as you either had that roommate or were that roommate. Or perhaps the notion of hearing Doja Cat’s “Say So” on a loop for the entire first half of the semester is completely foreign to you. Allow me to fill you in.
29 30 |”on” the hill
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ikTok is what happens when Jojo Siwa gets an iPod touch: it’s cute for a second, laughable for another, and then completely shocking. TikTok is also what happens when the Chinese AI internet entertainment company ByteDance revamps its App musical.ly, a similar time-warper that allows users to upload videos of themselves lip-syncing to various Top 40 hits. TikTok is a more expansive version of this app, allowing TikTokers (as they’re referred to by the youth) to upload their own audio bytes, apply special effects to their videos, and create side-by-side videos with others. TikTok also differs from musical.ly in its wide-reaching social platform. The app hosts over 80 million users worldwide and has produced celebrities with tens of millions of followers like Charli D’Amelio, Chase Hudson (her former lover who goes by the alias “Lil Huddy”), and Addison Rae, whose fame on the app prompted the song “Addison Rae,” which has over 10 million listens on Spotify. To say that TikTok has infiltrated our social media landscape is an understatement. It’s a game-changer, honestly. It can birth celebrities, make songs go viral, and show meme trends to millions overnight. TikTok is sensational. But why should you care?
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ikTok has found a home on Hamilton College’s campus and an even cozier one in quarantine. The more than 30 million active TikTokers in the United States average around 46 minutes a day on the app. One can imagine how these numbers have sky-rocketed in recent weeks, providing solace to the lonely and humor-deprived exiled students from colleges around the world. One first-year student reported spending 2 hours and 16 minutes daily on the app, saying it consumes most of her free time. While you may not be that student, there’s a strong likelihood you’ve met one like her on campus. According to this student, many college students download TikTok as a
