From Facebook to Snapchat, the world of social media is evolving at the same speed of fast fashion. Progressively, teenagers, specifically, are unknowingly becoming more infatuated with apps that quickly pass time, permitting themselves to lose an hour or two of their day. The current day obsession among both the teenage community and young adults is Tik Tok. Worldwide, the app has over 500 million active users – more people than there are in South America. 

The internationally famous app derives from Musically, a platform famous in 2017 used to upload short, lip-syncing videos. As Musically’s clout began to die, ByteDance (a Shanghai Company) bought it for reportedly as much as $1 billion dollars. In an effort to rebrand the declining app, Musically, ByteDance renamed it Tik Tok to give the appearance of a new platform, adhering to the dynamic population who favors new and “innovative” apps. Moreover, the features and content are similar to those of the obsolete apps – Vine and Musically. The interlacing of comedic and lip-syncing videos, along with videos of the users’ own creation, has sparked great interest among millennials.

Additionally, the internationally famous platform has been used for purposes besides entertainment. As of recently, Tik Tokers have uploaded videos in an attempt to bring light to social and political issues, but the videos are executed in a discreet manner. They begin the videos with as a typical Tik Tok, a tutorial or dance video, but quickly shift to the topic of importance. Tik Tokers claim that this method is needed in order for their videos to not be deleted or flagged; furthermore, they believe that since ByteDance is headquartered in communist China, that they monitor and censor videos of a political or social agenda, specifically content against China. For instance, Feroza Aziz has been applauded for her recent video of her; first, she indicates that the video is about her curling her lashes, but then she swiftly shifts to the topic of Uyghur Muslims, urging her followers to research the inhumane treatment occurring in China. 

Moreover, while Tik Tok the majority of people join Tik Tok to look at memes, follow dance videos, or just laugh, the app is also ushering in a new age of social media. Forcefully bringing politics to an insanely influential platform, especially doing so right under the eye of the supposed oppressor.