TikTok has taken the world by storm, and DHS students have hopped onto this trend. With the short videos shared, TikTok is compared to Musical.ly and Vine. These discontinued apps also featured short clips uploaded by users. Musical.ly was bought by the developers of TikTok, ByteDance, and joined the two video apps into one: TikTok. Although TikTok is fused with Musical.ly, many believe that the app shares commonalities with a different social media platform.
“It’s almost like Vine, and there’s lots of funny videos and people can share everything and anything they want,” freshman Olivia Stuart said.
The short videos, referred to as TikToks, cover a range of interests, including anything from comedy to dancing. A difference between TikTok and Vine is that the videos can reach up to 60 seconds long instead of Vine’s six second limit.
“There’s a lot of content on there, and you can sit there for hours and just scroll through everything,” junior Griffin Chapman said.
Chapman has been on TikTok since last October, when TikTok started to become popular. He has been watching TikToks since downloading the app, and now creates and uploads his own videos onto TikTok.
“I just make [TikToks] because I’m bored and I like to make people laugh,” Chapman said. “I like when you can do that and have fun.”
Other DHS students have similar reasons for making TikToks, like the creative aspects or simply out of boredom. But the commonality is the humor of creating and watching the short clips.
“You can joke around on it and watch funny videos, and everyone seems to get along on there,” Stuart said.
There are fashion trends that have gained popularity and interest from TikTok, like VSCO girls and e-girls/e-boys. A popular video trend that comes from this are TikToks that show the maker before and after TikTok, where they incorporate VSCO girls or e-girl/e-boy elements into their clothing styles. There are also multiple video trends that circulate through TikTok.
“There’s stuff for everybody on there,”Chapman said. “All ages, all senses of humor, all interests.”
TikTok’s quick rise to popularity does not stem from one cause. One of the reasons that TikToks are appealing are the humor and variety of the short clips. This connects TikTok to Vine, since the videos are a few seconds in length and those who make the videos have creative liberties.
TikTok is used and enjoyed by millions of people across the globe. The short, diverse clips are appealing to users, and DHS students are no exception.
