by Brittany McSorley
Part of the work of a Cape Cod social media marketing firm is staying up to date on the latest and greatest platforms. It’s no secret that mobile video app TikTok is the most recent rising star in the social media sphere. I’ve explored the ins and outs of TikTok before (and again after that), but my work is never done. This week, I dove into the mysterious world of TikTok trends and challenges, and I came away both flabbergasted and impressed.
TikTok is a fast-paced environment. You never know when a video is going to go viral and become the next big thing for the next few days or weeks. Some of the concepts that have taken off make perfect sense to me, like the collaborative writing of full-blown musicals. Others, not so much. What follows is a list of TikTok trends that I don’t understand, not because I am too old but because of a variety of other factors I have yet to identify:
The time warp feature: This tool warps your face in real time and it is terrifying. That is all.
“What I eat in a day”: Live your truth I guess, but if I shared the weird snacks I consume in a public forum, someone would likely plan an intervention.
Shoe-flip transformations: These people are getting dressed twice — on purpose! — and tossing their shoes about with wild abandon. While I completely understand the appeal of throwing things, it basically requires a financial incentive for me to put effort into my appearance these days.
Roller skates: In the early days of the pandemic, everyone got really into roller skating due to the dangerous new appeal of Going Outside. Two friends of mine wasted no time in ordering brightly colored roller skates online last spring, and the ratio of resulting broken legs to unbroken legs was 2:4.
“Nobody’s gonna know”: This trend involves sharing behind-the-scenes info on life hacks ranging from make-up tricks to complex pranks. To these TikTok users, I say only this: secrets are very valuable.
Whipped coffee: This frothy creation was another popular early-pandemic concept, and I think it looks… how do I put this delicately… as though it would taste very bad.
“Put a finger down”: Listen up, youths. This is bald-face plagiarizing of the cringe-worthy classic “Never have I ever,” and it’s meant to be played around a kitchen island at Troy’s house while his parents are out of town, not on your phone. UGH.
