Tiktok And Memes
Moden youth culture is always changing, and the Internet is a big part of this. Social media has become very popular with young people, and one site they are gravitating to is called TikTok. This app features short videos that allow users to lip-sync to popular music via some copyright agreements. The site also has a robust ecosystem for those that like to use memes. There are various memes such as T-poses, Fortnite dances and other videos that you can view. The site keeps alive the youthful tradition of irony.
In Louisville, Kentucky, high-school junior Sophiya indicates that she spends around three hours each day online on Instagram. Around late September she began to view TikTok videos and then this ramped up into October. She is currently following around 20 meme accounts on the Instagram site.
Another user is fourteen-year-old Blaire who follows around 75-100 accounts on the Instagram site and began to view TikTok videos around the same time as Sophiya. Lily is another high school student that follows around 15-20 meme accounts on Instagram. All three of these girls got immerses in the Internet culture as they transitioned from middle school to high school. In the views of TikTok, these girls are their main target demographic. Sophiya was familiar with musical.ly when it was at its peak, but she finds the videos form TkTok to be different.
Many TikTok videos follow the split-screen structure. On one side of the screen is a user who acts out the setup and then on another side, there is a user that will deliver the punchline. This is called the “duet” feature, and it works about the same as it does on Twitter when you quote-tweet someone or like it does on Tumblr when you reblog someone. An individual can share what someone else has posted and comment on the posted content.
The duet feature in TikTok would seem like it would add trust but it has become a one way for trolling, and this has become its own subgenre. The shorthand form of this is called “ironic TikTok.”
Lily indicated that her account is full of TikTok memes and indicated that any of the videos are of individual making fun of others. The site recently has an update, and you now have the ability to opt-out of the dueting, but you can circumvent this by using tools like screen recording.
Depending upon the individual that is viewing and where it’s being viewed, TikTok has taken on varying connotations. Large sites like Facebook and Google have expanded the accessibility of the Internet, but they have made the Internet kind of flat and loud, which bores the average teenager. Sites like Instagram with its memes and YouTube with its videos take the Internet and curate the content, so it’s condensed, palatable and comprehensible. Users find it more convenient to have the content brought to them instead of having to go out and then find it. SophiyaThe Kate’s that the content she encounters on accounts that feature memes comes from other platforms, Tumblr post, screenshotted tweets, TikTok videos and so on.
Adults face the same thing as they get most of their information from their Twitter timeline or their Facebook news feed. Younger users use social media accounts to perform and browsing for them. They like the fact that the accounts bring them the content that they would like to see the most Anna content that will get the biggest emotional reaction out of them.
Adult Tiktok Users
Many teenagers and young adults are familiar with TikTok videos on Instagram and YouTube, but not many of them had downloaded the actual app for the program. There are several channels on YouTube that future memes and it holds a strong appeal to the alt-right audience as well as Generations Z.
In terms of the alt-right, you will find more aggressive videos such as those that feature homophobia, misogyny, racism, and transphobia. Some of these memes even feature Nazi symbols such as Nazi paraphernalia or swastikas and tend to be crueler in nature. Many of these videos are getting thousands of views each day And already have millions of views, so it’s a bit disconcerting. One video features a teenage girl that has an apron and a mixing bowl, and she is holding a handwritten side which says “property.”
The culture wars for the next generation are going to be fought on the internet. Online curators such as YouTube and Instagram are going to play a large role in this. While Tik Tok is a new app for children and those that have technical knowledge it shows how information can be distributed online. It shows that viral videos no matter what their nature can be distributed online and the types of content that people are sharing.
It’s a shame that a lot of this content is appealing to the worst instincts of human beings. Content should be shared, but the types of content people are sharing are a cause for some concern.
