Tiktok Therapy: A very Joyful Rant

For so long I resisted Tiktok. I suspected it would turn out be as unnecessary as Snapchat is, the most overrated text messaging app of all time. When my daughter would look at it on it on her phone it seemed filled with inane videos of nothing. I made fun of it. Oops.  

Because boy, was I so totally wrong. Completely. Tiktok is my favorite entertainment app ever. And now that I’m a convert, daughter Zoë has graciously avoided saying “I told you so” even once. She’s the epitome of the caring, tolerant Gen Z generation all the way. 

 

I can’t remember why I finally downloaded the app. I wish I could. I heard someone recently say they downloaded it around the time Trump was threatening to ban it just so they could have it (in case). That may have contributed, but I feel like I’d already been scrolling through videos at that point. But it really doesn’t matter because I became hooked pretty much instantly. Ultimately, I think there is one major primary reason I decided to get it: because social media (in fact pretty much all media) had become unbearable for me leading into the election. I was looking for a happy, mindless escape, and I found it! 

I felt like I did when FB first came out and I connected with all my old friends and family who lived far away. It was fabulous back then (not filled with negativity and conspiracies and judgement and superiority like now). During the election when I would sit down at the end of the day and tune into Facebook or Twitter to see what my friends were up to all I could really see were politics. Trump-this and Trump-that, pandemic-horror-story-here and pandemic-horror-story-there (and how it was some leader's fault, usually Trump). This was NOT what I needed after a day at work.  I don't watch much TV and while I read a lot of books in my free time, I needed something less hard.  ;)  

 

The first videos I saw on Tiktok were what Zoë later told me are “Dance Tiktok.” I was mesmerized. I found it highly entertaining. The more I “liked” these videos, the more poured into my feed. Young people energetically dancing - and teaching others how to dance (so much moon walking!) restored my faith in Gen Z, a group I was worried didn’t know how to dance at all. Again - I could not have been more wrong. 

 

Most of the dancers were men. Good looking men. I think this is what led to to more and more attractive men in my “for you “ feed. Is there a Really-nice-looking-guy Tiktok? I think I’m in it. This probably also led me to “Dating over 50” Tiktok which is laugh-out-loud hilarious. Men and women sharing dating horror stories with humor and intelligence. I just love it. 

 

Next came Cat Tiktok. There is nothing more soothing (to me) than watching a cute baby kitten that had been abandoned, rescued by the video creator drinking from a bottle for the first time for 60 long, satisfying seconds. Oh em gee, squeal, like, share, coo, scroll to the next video. Repeat.  Ingenious Cat Tiktok is also pretty enjoyable.  

 

It didn’t stop with just cats though. Anything furry and cute is good fun too. The videos where someone teaches a small animal like a squirrel to do things on command. What?! More more more please! 

 

I also love these Tiktoks: 

• Easy recipe Tiktok
• Gift wrapping Tiktok 
• North American husband (lololol)
• Joke routine lip syncs 
• Make up Tiktok- I don’t even need to try them - it’s enough to live vicariously through their epic art 
• Hair cutting/curling/styling - ditto
• Unemployed wine guy 
• Life hacks (I-saw-it-on-Tiktok Tiktok) like how to put on a duvet cover, which was mind blowing at my age (How-did-I-not-know-this-already Tiktok)

I even found a secret Santa gift on Tiktok of a prank meowing cat that was so fun to see play out at my work place. I also love the videos where the creator highlights something totally random that I totally agree with like this one.  

 

So my Tiktok review is this: The creativity! The humor! The intelligence! The clever and entertaining shit people come up with is just amazing. I can mindlessly scroll through Tiktok without a care in the world for hours laughing (days if I let myself), just fucking delighted. 

 

Thank you, Tiktok creators. You have restored my faith in social media.