Most of today’s teens in the nation as well as in our community have interacted in some way with the relatively new app Tik Tok.  Many adults have said that  Tik Tok affects adolescents in a mostly negative way, but one can say that this app actually provides a positive impact on today’s adolescents. 

Like some other social media platforms, Tik Tok has provided an outlet for teens to express themselves, share ideas, and meet new people from across the country and globe. On some apps, like Instagram, people only show the best of themselves, and that would cause mental health issues among teens,  especially girls. Tik Tok, on the other hand, doesn’t display people’s best: most people who make videos sit on their couch in their pajamas or in their bedroom with sweats. As time moves on people are slowly getting more comfortable in expressing themselves and their issues, habits, and events that occurred to them. Because people are getting more comfortable, this allows for the viewers to feel a sense of relatability. A direct  effect of this relatability  is a feeling that shows the viewers that they aren’t alone and that there are people who have things in common with you. 

Tik Tok has also developed different “communities” amongst the people on  the app, like “Sway/Hype House Tik Tok”, “alt Tik Tok”, “Harry Potter Tik Tok”, “Teacher Tik Tok”, etc. These “sides” of Tik Tok have allowed viewers to find a community with people who have the same interests and problems as they do. For example, Sway/Hype House Tik Tok is the side of Tik Tok where people do dances and most of the famous people of Tik Tok are on that side. Whereas on alt Tik Tok, people really express their LGBTQIA+ pride, deep feelings, and that is also where the art of dark humor of the current generation forms. As one can see, these sides of the Tik Tok community are created by various people to support their similar interests and ideas. 

Overall, the app has connected people from all over the country and united most of the younger generation of today. Additionally, Tik Tok has trends that are actually quite fun, creative, and  interesting. Although these trends are rather short-lived, they did provide teens with something to do over the quarantine period. On the contrary, Tik Tok and cell phone use have  shown that they  affect the sleep schedules of teens and provide a distraction from school. This is because the app is quite addictive, because it really is almost like mindless scrolling and it does pass time quickly. This can lead to poor performance in a student due to procrastination and lack of sleep from watching. But while watching, teens feel a bundle of emotions, whether it’s happiness from dying of laughter, sadness from crying at a sad Tik Tok, or both from being stressed about school and whilst watching funny videos.