Comedic skits and creative outlets. Catchy songs and quick-to-learn dances. Aesthetics and fandoms battling for the limelight, or at least a chance at appearing on the “For You” page. This is Tik Tok, a social media video app for the creation and sharing of short videos categorized by personal likes and a general feed option . 

The simplicity of the app allows viewers access to a wide range of video creators and their content. Overnight “clout” is easily gained by a mixture of likes, views and a little algorithm favoritism, and it’s no surprise that students have had a few unexpected touches with fame. 

Junior Lauren Tulp started using Tik Tok as a joke but it quickly developed into a platform with 31.9 k  fans. Her most viewed video has 377.5k likes, or hearts, as Tik Tok labels them. 

“I posted a lot about my softball team and group trends and I guess that’s what people wanted to see,” said Tulp.

Likewise, junior Eve Freeman also stumbled upon her 15 minutes of fame using the app over the summer. Freeman made her first For You page debut in Lindsey Jackson’s class with Gina Zippo and Kylee Ruf. Made on a whim, this Tik Tok got over 500k views and raised Freeman’s follower count to 17.1k where she’s maintained a steady account following. 

“It was kind of surreal, I didn’t expect it to blow up at all. The more I posted the more I gained and I just got crazy excited”

Sophomore Barbara Cullen started using the app casually and by mid-June, her account blew up to over 7k followers and a leading Tik Tok with 294.6k views. 

“I just like the dancing ones,” said Cullen. 

This Tik Tok craze started with Musical.ly, an app that trended from 2014-2017 on the App store before its merger with the manufacturers of Tik Tok in August  2018. 

Sophomore Payton Wickizer relates to handing cross-platform fame as she initially gained a significant following back when Tik Tok was still Musical.ly.

“It’s just always been really fun for me,”

With 55k followers herself, Wickizer  mentions having some high profile followers, the best example being @luvanthony, a Tik Tok-verified influencer with over 2.7 million followers. 

Tik Tok promises its users a chance at becoming insta-famous. With the click of a button, a single post can turn a personal account into the internet’s latest sensation. At least until the For You page refreshes.