Pop Culture Time!!!

Today, Social media is an integral part of society. New platforms, such as TikTok, seem to appear overnight, and suddenly have millions and millions of users. TikTok is a platform where people can share short videos—most of which are usually comedic —about any topic. Just like all other forms of pop culture, TikTok provides fast and entertaining content that one can easily consume, process, and forget about. It also has many benefits and issues, some of which make it a very controversial app. 
One thing about TikTok that separates it from other platforms is how it shows its users’ content. If somebody posts a video and it gains many likes out of support,, it will then be shown to more people. This system allows small users to increase their popularity on the app, and thus it gives all users with public accounts the chance to become “TikTok Famous”. Accounts who have enough followers can start to earn money from ad revenue on the app, and for a few TikTok can become a full-time job. Tiktok also directs videos to specific individual interests. For example, if one were to post a drawing video on the platform, it would then show that video to other accounts that have shown interest in drawing videos before. This allows one to expand their range of content with the click of a button. 
While it has some benefits, TikTok also has its downsides. Perhaps the largest concern that many have with the app is its privacy policy. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese corporate company. Due to legal authority, the Chinese government has the right to obtain any personal information from ByteDance, which has been troubling to many people. This is just one example of how with the rise of Pop Culture and Social Media in recent years, came the rise of privacy concerns. Along with privacy, some have concerns about how addictive the app can become. TikTok shows all of its videos on one page, where one can simply scroll down from one video to the next in an infinite fashion. This process exposes the user to a seemingly never-ending stream of content, which keeps the consumer captivated, and can waste their time. Many dislike Tiktok strictly because of this aspect. 
Overall, TikTok is one of the best examples of Pop Culture in today’s world. It brings up new, entertaining content at a seemingly endless rate, all while having many pitfalls and dangers. I believe that while TikTok threatens millions of people and their privacy, it will not go away soon. The benefits that it offers appear to outweigh the risks many times over, and that we as a society will continue to consume fast, easy, and entertaining media no matter the cost. 




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