Scrolling for Hours
The development of information technologies like personal computers and cellphones have allowed us to become increasingly more connected.
Whether you’re updating your family on Facebook; or scrolling through tinder to find a new bae, we all use social technologies.
Not only has social media allowed us to rapidly communicate with friends and family without having to buy a plane ticket, it also let us to connect with new people who share similar interests with us.
Every day, millions of applications are developed. We’ve seen Facebook surpass MySpace as well as the dissolution of Vine. So, what makes certain applications popular while others flop?
It’s hard to know what makes one social media better than the next, but something that appeals to millennials, which can be seen through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat, is that users are able to get on demand information whenever they want. This contrasts the way media gets passed to Generation X, which is usually through television or newspapers.
Perhaps accessibility of information and personalized content on demand has made these social media outlets so popular.
Instagram has always been my favorite app by far! When I was in high school, I was never worried about my “theme”, rather I always wanted to make sure I had a lot of followers and was easily connected with friends, family, and information.
However, TikTok has recently become increasing more popular, In September of 2018, the app surpassed Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat in monthly installs. Additionally, the app was downloaded over a billion times in 2018 alone!
The first time I heard of TikTok was when my best friends’ younger sister would send me links of her mouthing lyrics to songs—absolutely adorable.
Although, this year, it seems like I can’t escape it. Whether it’s my friends or social media influencers posting stories in Instagram of their TikTok dance; it truly is everywhere.
I’ve recently gotten the app and I can tell you; it has consumed my life. Why you may ask? Truthfully, I’m not too sure. Maybe it’s because videos are an easy-watch when they're only fifteen seconds long, or maybe it’s because the content stays the same with unique creator twists. As you scroll you can go from a video of someone lip syncing to a person dancing to a person telling a story.
Youtubers and content creators alike have capitalized off the TikTok craze, making reaction videos, commenting on how cringy or good TikTok influencers really are. But why are people so invested and captivated?
I believe that people are so interested in the app because you don’t need to sign in to see the content. Most social media applications require that you create your own account, but TikTok allows the user to access the "For You" page and search for specific accounts without registering. The app allows users to have and create videos, as well as produce new challenges and hashtags for others to try.
So, have you joined the wave of procrastination and downloaded TikTok?
