TikTok Enthralls EHS

Cassi Reaka, Editor-in-Chief

Between Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat, there is no shortage of platforms to share content on. But recently, another platform has entered the playing field that has quickly gained popularity among teens.

TikTok is a relatively new social media platform,  having been launched in 2017. The app is used for creating and sharing short, funny videos using pre-recorded or original “sounds” or songs. It currently has, according to the New York Times, 500 million users.

Junior Kate Hengehold made a TikTok that now has over 1 million views on the app. The video featured her dancing to “Obsessed” by Mariah Carrey, one of the most popular TikTok “sounds,” in the middle of class.

“I didn’t think it was going to blow up so it was really cool when it did,” Hengehold said.

Many of the 1300 comments on Hengehold’s video are about a boy in the background wearing a blue shirt. That boy was senior Will Range.

“When she started making the TikTok I was really confused,” Range said. “I wasn’t very familiar with the app before so I didn’t understand if it was part of her presentation or she was just dancing for fun. I really didn’t know how to react so I was sort of trying to get an idea by looking at other people.”

The comments said that he “looked so confused” or “needed to mind his own business.”

“I didn’t think I was doing anything special to create all that buzz,” Range said. “The comments made me laugh.”

For videos to go viral on the app, they must end up on many people’s “For You” page, an “algorithmic feed based on videos you’ve interacted with, or even just watched,” according to The New York Times. The app heavily uses hashtags to create and organize new challenges and trends.

TikTok’s popularity is not slowing down anytime soon. With the app’s ability to push content onto users, trends come and go daily, and there is always something new to see.

Junior Sydney Hemken, who frequently uses the app said, “I like it because it is a creative outlet for me and I can relate to a lot of the videos on there.”