Two minute read. Written by Ayanna Chahar – a grade 9 student.

Tiktok, released in 2017, is a Chinese video-sharing social networking service owned by ByteDance, a Beijing-based company founded in 2012 by Zhang Yiming.

It was earlier known as “Musically”, but now has evolved into an app which is recognized as a platform worldwide for all kinds of activities, like short dancing, singing, comedy, magic tricks, memes, lip-sync and a lot more. Even though it is mostly used by teenagers, young kids and seniors also showcase their talents on this app. Users can make videos up to 15 seconds featuring anything they like – for example dancing, lip-sync and more. 

But, TikTok is more than an just an app that people use for fun. Nowadays, many are making a living out of TikTok. The way it works is that a user requires a minimum of 1,000 followers to be able to live-stream. People who follow you can gift you coins as you live-stream. Once you have accumulated enough of these to make it worthwhile, you can trade these coins for real money. These coins are pretty much the virtual currency of TikTok. 

Creating stars

Tik Tok has created many mini celebrities who are now using this as a source of income. Many videos have gone viral (meaning that millions of people have watched them) and that has made some users famous. For instance, 15-year-old Charli D’Amelio posted a dance duet with a user called ‘Move With Joy‘. She did it just for fun, and before she knew it, the video hit over 2 million views. Today she is one of the biggest TikTok stars with over 40 million followers and 2 billion views and likes. She earns in bulk for each 15 second video she posts, that too just at the age of 15. 

TikTok opens doors of opportunities for people. There are no auditions or interviews it’s all about people-connect and talent.

There’s another really inspiring story of Shaikh Azhar, son of a construction worker who used to work in a bakery for Rs. 11 a day at the age of 9. Working there he learned how to ice cakes.  That was in 2009. In 2018 he got introduced to TikTok and one day he made a video of himself making a Tiranga Cake to celebrate Independence day. That video went viral and got 4.5 million views. Today Azhar earns Rs.70,000 a month!   

The Hype House

Some of the biggest TikTok stars stay in a house known as the Hype House – a big Spanish-style mansion in Los Angeles (California, United States) where select TikTok influencers live. It may seem a dream to live in the hype house but it also comes with a set of rules, such as no big parties can take place over there, because the influencers are very concerned about the reputation of the house. That house is strictly for productive purposes. TikToker’s are expected to come up with new content regularly in the Hype House. 

But, the latest news is that the Hype House is splitting up – the founders are fighting with each other.

The addiction can be bad – not everyone will go viral

While TikTok has given lot of success to many people and opened windows of opportunities, it has its downhill as well. TikTok has become an addiction for many. There have been cases where children have had to go for therapies to get over it. Studies also prove that people who are active on TikTok and don’t get large number of followers or likes start getting depressed. It actually causes a lot of turmoil in the young minds which leads to negative thoughts – like not being accepted or popular in society. These thoughts can lead teenagers to take any steps to get attention and popularity.

As mentioned before TikTok is very addictive and can become a serious problem. 

To sum it up I would like to say TikTok is a great platform but when used sensibly. So have fun using it, showcase your talents and maybe one day you hit the Jackpot.

Written by Ayanna Chahar