Will Porn and Privacy Worries Derail TikTok? – Millenial Influx

Millenial Influx

News, commentary, opinion, and analysis from the Millennial generation

By Kinnon Rockness
Snapchat. Facebook. Instagram. Twitter. They’ve all had their glory days and have taken over the social media world at one time or another. However, there’s a new social media platform that has taken over the millennial world: TikTok.

TikTok has grown the fastest out of any other form of social media and has been downloaded over 1.2 billion times since its launch in 2017. It is owned by ByteDance; a Chinese Internet technology company. ByteDance had a value of $78 billion as of November 2018.

In Thailand, 1 in 7 people have downloaded the app. It is available in 150 countries, as well as 75 different languages. So what does TikTok offer that the rest of the social media world doesn’t?

What is TikTok?

TikTok is a social media video app that allows its users to create and share short video clips. These video clips typically include (but are not limited to) lip-syncing, comedy, dance, and talent videos. Users can also create their own videos with the audio of an existing video, creating a “duet.” Videos range from 3 to 15 seconds, or 60 seconds if the video is looped.

Users are able to edit, share, and comment on the video clips posted publicly on the app. Viewers navigate through videos by scrolling through a feed, and have the abilities to like, comment, and share. Like other forms of social media, TikTok users can add hashtags to their posts. These hashtags function by organizing trends such as “challenges,” jokes, or repeating formats (such as a series or theme).

Viral trends and internet celebrities have made their claim to fame from TikTok. Popular TikTok influencers have gained millions of followers through their creative video clips. “Lisa and Lena,” a pair of twins from Germany, held the record for the most followers with over 32.2 million before deciding to delete their account. This exceeds the amount of followers of many developed celebrities on platforms such as Instagram– NFL quarterback and future Hall of Famer, Tom Brady, has 6.6 million followers on his Instagram account. Trends such as the “Fake Travel Challenge,” where users use household objects and pictures to mimic travel photos for comedic effect, have gone viral through the use of TikTok.

Funny to Cringey

One user, 19-year-old Jeremy Earnst from Illinois, describes his experience using TikTok. Earnst started using TikTok during fall of 2018, and claims to use it on a daily basis. “I really like how TikTok has a variety of content,” he says. “It ranges from funny to cringey, to creative… and it’s really just an escape from stress. I like to sit down for an hour and watch… it’s a great destresser!” When questioned about the downsides or negatives about TikTok, Earnst focused on the inappropriate content that constantly appears on his feed. “There’s lots of overly sexual content that I don’t enjoy seeing while I’m on TikTok,” he says.

Earnst’s statement about TikTok brings in a variety of controversies surrounding the new app. Although Earnst claims to use the app for about an hour each day, there are some users who go beyond this and even claim to be “addicted.” TikTok videos are often re-posted on other forms of social media, making them almost unavoidable for some. Wherever users go to another app, such as Instagram, they may find themselves drawn back to TikTok.

The appeal for most is the length of the video and creativity used in such a short amount of time. Viewers only have to pay attention for a few seconds and are able to receive satisfaction from the content. Trends and challenges, as stated before, also contribute to this strange addiction. Users are drawn to discover who completed the challenge and either failed (often comedic) or succeeded. Other TikTok users, like Earnst, simply use the app as a distraction from the outside world but may find themselves carried away with it.

Problem with Porn

Another prevalent issue with TikTok is the graphic and pornographic content that often appears while users are scrolling through the app. In July 2018, Indonesia temporarily blocked TikTok for this reason. It was unblocked shortly after, but several changes were made including the implementation of age restrictions and security mechanisms.

India also experienced a brief ban in April 2019, saying that the app encourages pornography and exposes children to sexual predators. The ban was eventually lifted after a plea from Bytedance Technology; a TikTok developer. Bytedance also responded to this by creating a “kids-only” mode on TikTok, which blocks children from uploading videos, create a profile, or send messages on the app.

As of now, TikTok is still rising and becoming dominant over most other forms of social media. In the future, it should continue to see in increase in use due to its unique characteristics. At the same time, restrictions and privacy updates are a strong possibility due to problems revolving around this area. The social media world is constantly changing, and TikTok is certainly gaining more time in the spotlight as a major platform.

Emma Folts, a sophomore at Wheaton College, shares her experience about her transition into college and how homeschool has both helped and hindered her.
How has your homeschool experience benefitted you, especially in your transition into college?
I think the one thing that homeschooling did that was really helpful as I entered college was that it taught me time management. As a homeschooler I had the same freedom as a college student has to put things off during the day and go see a friend instead. Since I had that experience, I knew the cost of that.
Also, personal responsibility and accountability with assignments. I feel like a lot of the other students had more expectations for gentler grading and that the professor would give them retakes or extensions, but that wasn’t something that ever happened to me in school. That learning curve wasn’t added because I never had it the other way. I think another thing was that because I was homeschooled, I was familiar with the format of teaching and then studying on my own.
Did you see any issues with your transition socially?
I think that homeschooling had two ramifications for me socially. One was helpful, one was hurtful.
It was really helpful because as a homeschooler, I had spent a lot of time realizing and developing who I was as a person and learning to recognize people who were being themselves, and those were the people I sought out as friends. Friendship as a homeschooler takes a lot more investment. I knew I was choosier with my friends which made me a lot less anxious and a lot more content.
The only real negative impact of the social bit was that I was really used to getting to choose the time I got to spend with people. As a homeschooler I spent a lot of time with people, but that time was controlled by me. As a college student, I found that you can’t really control the time you spend with people and alone time is not really available. Learning to deal with that was a lot harder than anticipated.
Any last comments on homeschool and how it has affected your college experience?
I think homeschooling is really helpful, however it does take a slightly increased amount of advocacy with your peers when you’re entering into college. I think a lot of people come in with certain assumptions about homeschool, especially students. You’re going to get a lot of, ‘oh my gosh, you don’t seem like a homeschooled person!’ [You can’t] take that too personally and explain your experience so that friends can understand it’s an important piece of you, though it might not look like the homeschooling that they’ve seen.
My encouragement to anyone who is a homeschooler transitioning into college is to realize the benefit that you have having been homeschooled, and to realize that the bit of advocacy and explaining that you need to do with your peers is totally normal and that it’s not a big deal. Once they understand your experience, it’s not something I’ve experienced being looked down on for.