Skip to main content

TikTok: My Journey

 


I first downloaded TikTok when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and sent all of us college students home in March of 2020. I was pretty bored and tired of scrolling on Instagram and Snapchat when I decided to download it. It took me a while to have a “for you” page that was actually tailored to me, but once that happened I’d was on TikTok all the time. I learned a bunch of trending TikTok dances during quarantine but didn’t post any.

When we all returned back to college in the fall, I soon realized that TikTok was taking up too much of my time. I would be on it for 3 hours every night and then go hang out with friends, leaving no time for me to do my homework. I ended up having to delete the app because I had so much to do. I redownloaded it this past summer because I assumed I would have less to do as a senior. However, it turned out that I’m actually a little better at managing my time now. I only average about 1 hour and 20 minutes a day and can balance my classes with my internship. I’ve only posted one video of me and one of my friends dancing, but I have a couple drafts of me using filters that I might post because they’re kind of funny.

I currently follow Sadie Crowell, Kouvr, Ellie Thumann, Tabitha Swatosh, Ken Eurich, Allison Kuch, Isaac Rochell and many other influencers on TikTok. My “for you” page is usually filled with conspiracy theories, product recommendations, people complaining about classes, and random tidbits of advice. I also like to check out what is trending on TikTok because it can be really funny or informative. Like my other social media apps, the ads tailored to me are usually makeup, food and TV shows.

I think that the way TikTok ads are set up can sometimes make it difficult to tell if the video is an ad or not. This can be good for companies because if they show a video that’s creative and funny and supply a link, many users will be more likely to purchase the product or go order the food they see.

Something I think is interesting about TikTok is that so many people are worried about China spying on us through this app. I’m not sure whether to believe the rumors, but I do know that I’ve gotten a lot of my news from the app. All social media apps store your data in the first place, so I’m not sure at this point in time how worried we should be.





Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Birthday Weekend Recap

 My birthday was March 21, which was a Tuesday. The week prior was Spring break, so I decided to go to Kentucky for a weekend trip with my boyfriend! The first part of our trip was in Loretto, Kentucky. We drove about 6 hours, after waking up at 7:00 in the morning. We finally made it to our destination, where we were able to get a tour of Maker’s Mark bourbon distillery. As soon as we got there, I was in awe of how green the landscape was and how many cows and horses I saw grazing in the fields. I even saw baby lambs! Attached below is a wonderful view of the grounds. We got a full explanation of how bourbon is made. It starts with a mix of grains (corn, barley and rye). The mixture must be made up of at least 51% corn. This mixture of grains gets yeast and water added to it and then gets placed in a vat to let the yeast do its job (fermentation). Once it’s ready, it gets strained and then distilled (meaning it gets purified by heating and vaporizing). The next step varies between...
2 comments
Read more

The Video Games I Played As A Child

I recently read a statistic that said 40% of the people in the world play video games. I am one of those people. As a child, I played video games with my three younger brothers. Our favorites were Mario Kart, Wii Sports, Lego Star Wars, Clash of Clans, Hay Day, and Tiny Tower. To this day, I still play Hay Day and Tiny Tower. We were extremely competitive and hated to lose. I think that video games have a lot of pros and a lot of cons. Video games allow people to connect with one another and bond over a shared interest, they can help pass the time when there’s nothing else to do and they teach determination, even when some levels are hard to beat. However, it is easy to spend way too much time playing video games and it can even become an addiction. Having a balance is very important. I used to play video games on the Wii and Xbox, but now I stick to mainly mobile games. This is because I can play them anytime or anyplace, as long as I have Wi-Fi or data. I’ve played Hay Day my entir...
1 comment
Read more

3 Places I Want to Visit

 I love traveling. I think it’s so fun to learn about how people live in different parts of the world and even other places in the US. Today, I’ll be telling you all about 3 places I want to visit in the near future. The first place I want to visit is Salzburg, Austria. This is number one on my bucket list. My grandma, who has since passed away grew up in this beautiful city and moved to America after WW2 because she fell in love with an American soldier from Kentucky. I’d like to visit the birthplace of Mozart, the Salzburg Cathedral, check out the coffee shops/boutiques and take pictures of the beautiful mountains. The picture I’ve attached below is the Bavarian mountains surrounding Salzburg. ( https://cdn.projectexpedition.com/photos/39563touractivitycsm_berchtesgardenwatzmannlockstein_7199d73c52_sized.jpg ) A fun fact about Salzburg (from my grandma), Hitler didn’t bomb this city during WW2 because he hid his prized paintings there! The second place I would like to visit is Sa...
2 comments
Read more