Social media sites have always had different trends, but Tik Tok has arguably the most used trends. No matter what is on your “For You” page, these trends are bound to come up at one point or another.
Most of the trends are dances to a certain song. Some are just jokes using one of the effects, such as the time warp scan. These will get popularized by the different influencers. The Tik Tokers with the most followers are Charli D’Amelio and Addison Rae. Their content is mainly doing dances, and when they do their dances, many, many people like them.
The dances are mainly recreated by girls ranging anywhere in age from 3-30. It is not only girls that do those dances though, anybody and everybody will. Many celebrities that aren’t exactly known for their Tik Toks will get in on the trend and do these dances for their followers as well. Some of the ones people have seen are Lizzo, Gilbert Gottfried, Will Smith, and many more.
One interesting thing about Tik Tok is that the user with the most followers is just 16 years old. Charli D’Amelio first began posting on Tik Tok on March 30, 2019 with a lip-syncing video alongside her friend. Her first video to gain traction, a side-by-side video (known on the platform as a “duet”) with user “Move With Joy,” was posted in July 2019. She is now the second highest earning Tik Tok star, making $4 million in the last year. Fortune included D’Amelio on their annual 40 Under 40 list, which recognizes young leaders they consider to be the most influential, making her the
youngest person on the list at 16 years old.
Everybody makes and sees different Tik Toks. Not all trends that people do are dances. Katie Davis, senior digital communications major, doesn’t like to do the dances. “I make whatever is trending, I tend to make relatable ones like to school or family,” Davis said. “My favorite trends are whatever is trending right now.”
Many people will tell you that they are on a certain side of Tik Tok. They’ll say that they’re on that side of Tik Tok because they will see a lot of content pertaining to that one subject. For example, many people are on the “Shrek” side of Tik Tok. Someone on this side will see memes and scenes pertaining to the Shrek movie franchise. The reason behind this is there is an algorithm.
“It’s hard to say what the top trends are because the Tik Tok algorithm makes it based to you,” Dr. Nune Grigoryan said. Grigoryan is an assistant professor in the communication department at Cabrini. Many of the classes she teaches are based on social media. She explained how the algorithm works and how complicated it can be. Grigoryan also went on about how quickly the trends can change.
Grigoryan also went on to explain the longevity of the trends. “I think these trends change pretty quickly, like Twitter. Some trends will go away and come back with people reusing content after few days video was edited and added,” said Grigoryan.
With the uncertainty of the future of Tik Tok, people will remember their favorite trends for a while. And who knows what the next up-and-coming trend will be. Only time will tell.
