Title: What Is TikTok, and Why Are Teens Obsessed with It?
Headings: What Is TikTok, and Why Are Teens Obsessed with It?
What Is TikTok, and Why Are Teens Obsessed with It?
A Short Introduction to TikTok
TikTok Is for the Memers
How TikTokers Make Money
Why TikTok Is So Controversial
What the Future Holds

Content: There’s also a “For You” feed that shows a random assortment of videos from others. This mechanism offers an endless thread of new stuff to watch and feeds into the highly addictive nature of TikTok. However, it’s also what makes TikTok such an enticing platform—it allows those with even the smallest followings to “go viral” and become online celebrities overnight. Perhaps the biggest virtue of the “For You” feed is how it exposes someone to content from creators he or she otherwise wouldn’t typically follow. It punctures the filter bubble. For example, in 10 minutes, you might see content from those whose political views diverge wildly from your own, or other communities you might not ordinarily engage with, like the military or law enforcement. To exemplify this point, within five minutes, I switched from watching someone demonstrate a new cosplay outfit to a U.S. airman confidently hanging from the cargo ramp of a C-130 Hercules transport plane. The serendipitous nature of fame on TikTok is also attracting people from other platforms. When I interviewed rapper Shevin McCullough (who performs as Showtime Shevin ), he described the platform as “fertile grounds” compared to YouTube. While YouTube is far more established, it’s harder for new creators to create a die-hard following on there.