A Parent's Guide to Tik Tok

WRITTEN BY SEAN BAUMEISTER

As the Coronavirus continues to ravage the world and quarantine continues to be our reality many people have turned to social media applications to socially connect with others. One such app is Tik Tok which has taken the nation by storm in recent months, and if you are a parent of a teenager you have likely known about it for quite some time, yet can’t figure out the attraction. Founded by Zhang Yiming, the founder and CEO of chinabased company Bytedance, Tik Tok was created by Zhang in 2014 and released to the international market in 2017. Since then, Tik Tok has been exploding in popularity with over 800 million active users and 2 billion downloads on the app store and the google play store.

Part of Tik Tok’s rise in popularity is its dependence on trends. No kid wants to miss what’s trending. Trends on Tik Tok typically consist of people doing dances for fun such as the Renegade which went viral, causing Tik Tok’s rise to popularity in 2018. The Renegade trend consisted of people dancing to Atlanta rapper K-Camp's hit song “Lottery.” More recent trends include people riding skateboards and drinking bottles of Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry juice causing Ocean Spray’s sales to rise drastically. This trend started after an Idaho man, formerly known as 420doggface208, (now known worldwide!) realized his car battery died, leaving him stranded on his way to work. But, not to be deterred, the man got out his skateboard, pulled out a bottle of juice, and flipped on Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” and posted a pic – he is now a viral sensation, known the world over because of Tik Tok. So why is it that teens keep coming back to Tik Tok? A part of it could be a fear of missing out. Fear of missing out has always been a part of people's lives, however the issue has been amplified with social media, especially in teens. It is not uncommon for teens to be constantly checking their phones to see what their friends are up to, so they don’t miss out on something important. So how does this relate to Tik Tok? Teenagers may be scared that they will miss a trend or important piece of information if they aren’t frequently checking Tik Tok - as the last thing they would want - is to be out of the loop in a conversation about a Tik Tok trend they don’t know about. Some teens even get stressed out and anxious when they realize their friends made a Tik Tok without them. If you combine this fear of missing out with Tik Tok’s incredibly addictive algorithm and trends that explode in popularity constantly, you have an app that can keep teens hooked for hours. But what is Tik Tok’s algorithm? It is built in such a way that it will constantly recommend users content similar to what the user has liked in the past. Along with this a user can swipe endlessly, giving your kid a never-ending stream of content to view. This constant flow of content helps to make the app highly addictive for teenagers and even some adults. In these times, apps like Tik Tok are more important than ever, especially for teens to fight the loneliness of quarantine. The best thing to do if your teenager seems like they are spending hours on end using social media is to sit down and talk with them. Instead of taking their phone away (because this will only serve to make them more anxious) spend quality family time with them, having them suggest Tik Toks that you might like – there is a Tik Tok for everybody and every interest, it is not just dancing - politics, comedy, health, pets – ask them to show you around. Checking in with your children can help promote a closer bond between you guys and can make it easier for them to open up to you in the future. SF