Why I Love TikTok (Newsletter No. 29)

aside from the sketchy background…

  1. cooking tips

  2. cleaning tips

  3. life hacks in general

  4. random factoids

  5. awesome music and audio choice spanning genres and editing of music to precise hooks and clips to evoke a specific universal feeling

  6. self-aware meta comments that acknowledge narrative tropes

  7. creators seem to take themselves a lot less seriously because the ultimate goal is a laugh or to be talented rather more than it is to just sit and look pretty, merely looking pretty isn’t gonna fly like it did for Instagram influencers

  8. it feels a lot less braggy and vain to me, again, because your ultimate goal is to entertain

  9. cute animals

  10. minute yet universal commentaries on life

  11. different cultures

  12. great singing, great dancing

  13. i use the For You page more than the Following page, and it’s a lot more variety than only following certain people. It’s like endless exploring.

  14. maybe it helps that they’re all strangers since my generation isn’t using TikTok for social clout so it’s like a bubble world. There’s creators of all ages on TikTok, but the goal isn’t PR for how cool your life seems, again, it’s to entertain in some shape or form. A lot less advertising in general. Whether it’s sponsored posts or from people, superficial advertising and marketing doesn’t fly.

  15. the comments are generally smartly hilarious and generous, especially the top ones

  16. and as a result of the above for some reason whenever I scroll through TikTok makes me feel happier, satiated, and inspired, rather than as if my brain has been turned to mush and then sucked dry.

Kristy Lin