Formerly known as Musical.ly, Tik Tok is one of the fastest growing social media platforms in the world, with over 1.5 billion users according to Oberlo. With so many people using it, is the app worth using?
According to Media Kix, Tik Tok is so popular it has surpassed Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, and Snapchat in the App Store and Google Play installs.
Tik Tok is addicting, with teens spending hours scrolling through videos or making them with their friends. The videos are so short that scrolling through them can make hours go by in a heartbeat. According to Oberlo, the average time on Tik Tok a day is 52 minutes.
People make videos or watch them instead of doing things they should be doing like homework.
Tik Tok can also cause problems for younger kids, hearing songs or seeing behaviors that aren’t appropriate for them.
These issues can happen anywhere and have easy fixes like setting restrictions for screen time, or a parent monitoring what song young kids listen to. Kids hear songs with curse words all the time, they hear people singing or on the school bus. If a parent doesn’t want them to hear it on the app, just have them delete it.
As for the distraction of teenagers, there are other activities that can cause them to not do their homework. Other social media, talking to friends, and TV can all be distracting.
Tik Tok is a fun way to have fun with friends and share with others in addition to other social media like Instagram or Snapchat. Sharing videos for friends is fun and so is watching other people’s videos, trying to learn new dances and listening to music.
Tik Tok is also a good way to find new music. Artists such as Lil Nas X were discovered through Tik Tok when the song Old Town Road became a popular sound for videos.
Tik Tok is worth trying out because it is something fun to do by yourself and with your friends.
For younger kids who want to use Tik Tok, but their parents don’t want them to hear certain music, the app should make a setting that censors or filters lyrics or content for younger kids.
If a person is having a problem getting things done, iPhones have settings where they limit time on an app. This not only goes for Tik Tok, but other apps as well. Set a restriction on the amount of time possible to spend on Tik Tok.
