The most viewed Tiktok of 2020 is Zach King’s Harry PotterIllusion at 2.2 Billion views.  Although these types of videos are creative and entertaining TikTok has become too overrated as a platform in itself. TikTok is a popular social media platform that features videos up to 60 seconds where you can showcase your talent to a large and diverse audience. Its never-ending scrolling algorithm makes it easy for users to get ‘addicted’ and has become an extremely popular platform among teens and young adults.

TikTok promotes its most popular users’ videos and has hashtags for trends that make it easier for regular users to view certain videos more than others. TikTok itself did not create celebrities or start trends; the people and users of TikTok repeat trends insomuch that they become popular and users collectively liking and viewing an influencers page has made them into celebrities. The platform itself is given too much credit for amplifying trends that have already existed way before its creation.  The platform’s execution is poor because of the way it is set up and how selected videos are shared more than others

Popular trends on TikTok fuel high standards in skill-related and beauty-related areas. For example a beauty trend where you measure how symmetrical your face is by using a filter that flips the screen and if your face looks the same on both sides you are considered ‘beautiful’. There are many trends where users do things to see if they are in the standard and if they are not then it’s seen as deprecating comedy and can lead to lower confidence of the audience. Overused trends on TikTok fuel the use and excitement of the platform which has further caused it to become over credited with shaping standards.

TikTok is so popular that some users have become ‘TikTok famous’ from the exposure. However, although TikTok enables users to share various content with audiences from all over the world, its popularity has become overrated.

The most popular TikTok influencers like Charli D’Amelio and Bella Poarch have millions of followers on the platform and even successful careers because popular users are often asked to endorse products. However, TikTok should not be given all the credit for making these ordinary people into celebrities, it is us that gave influencers the views and made them ‘go viral’ which goes to show how overused and overrated the app is.

I personally enjoy the app and its idea which is to share your content and make interactions with other users easily. Videos pertaining to different topics and individuals make TikTok really interesting and keep users including me entertained. 

Some individuals claim that TikTok is so addictive that they spend almost all of their freetime on the app. They claim that it is hard to get off of the app because you can keep scrolling for hours and hours. I don’t consider myself a regular user to TikTok and would not likely spend hours on this one app. It is hard for me to see what all the hype is about which makes TikTok seem overrated to myself and many others.

TikTok is based on a unique concept, however it is just another social media platform like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and should not become anything more than a fun way to share your talents to the world. It has become immensely popular in a short amount of time and this popularity is given too much credit for bringing back trends or making celebrities. Tiktok as a social media platform is simply overrated.