It’s safe to say that teens nowadays are all about social media. From Instagram, to Snapchat, to VSCO, teens spend hours upon hours scrolling through their social media feed and talking to their friends through these platforms. 

One of the new social media platforms, TikTok, has taken the social media world by storm. TikTok combines characteristics from several other social media apps, and allows creators to publish their own content for everyone to see.

 TikTok is extremely popular among teenagers everywhere, with it even being the most downloaded app in July 2020. But the real question is, why? What about TikTok draws in teens so much?

 Junior Natalie Pound explains that the appeal of TikTok is that it feels more authentic than other forms of social media.

“Personally, I like TikTok because it is a much more casual form of social media than things like Instagram,” Pound said. “On other social media apps, many things are forced, or posed, but on TikTok you can post whatever you want without worrying about looking perfect or getting a ton of likes. TikTok is just a way more casual, and fun form of social media, which is why I really like it.”

Sophomore Ellison Norton says TikTok is appealing to her because of the shortness of the videos.

“I really enjoy watching TikToks, because the videos are only up to 60 seconds long, which is good for people watching them because they won’t get boring easily,” Norton said. “Lots of teens including myself have pretty short attention spans, and by watching shorter videos, I feel like it keeps me more entertained than if I was watching a 10-minute long YouTube video. The shorter videos allow you to watch a bunch of Tiktoks in a short amount of time, making you get hooked and wanting to watch more.”

Junior Amanda Wine says that she enjoys TikTok due to its consistent spread of positivity.

“I like TikTok a lot, because many of its influencers promote lots of positive messages, such as body positivity,” Wine said. “Lots of the girls on TikTok are very open about ways to love your body and gain confidence overall. Watching these TikToks makes me feel comfortable in my own skin, and overall just allows me to spread positivity to others.”

In general, TikTok is seen as a safe and entertaining outlet for teens, and has many different reasons as to why teens love it so much.

“Going on TikTok is just a good way to get my mind off of the stressful things around me, and it has many good qualities about it, so I really understand why everyone loves it so much and is so hooked on it,” Wine said.