Illustration by Yazmin Butcher, Published 15:11, Feb. 9, 2021
I downloaded TikTok in the first lonely months of self-isolation. The internet of millennials had grown stale, populated by overly posed pictures, inane hashtags, and SEO-friendly self-branding. TikTok promised something different: a space where a younger generation of users embraced idiosyncrasy and irreverence over conformity and overwrought styling.
Initially, I was skeptical. I knew TikTok mostly as the home of lip-syncing videos and dance challenges performed by floppy-haired teenagers in LA mansions. Also: Did I really need yet another social media app, especially one with seemingly dubious privacy commitments? But what I discovered was irresistible an unruly playground populated by a generation whose modes of expression struck me as refreshingly honest and hilarious, a new way of imagining our online lives.