The TikTok “For You Page” (fyp) generates TikToks from a variety of creators and themes to your “For You Page” based on your interests and which posts you like, comment on, and share. As someone who has had TikTok for about a year and spends at least three hours scrolling through my fyp every day, here are some of my favorite sides of TikTok.
LGBTQ+ TikTok: This is where people from every end of the LGBTQ+ community come together to make some of my favorite content. I’ve learned so much about the different aspects of the community from a variety of different members, including transgender people, individuals who identify as nonbinary and queer people in general (just to name a few). It’s an incredibly enlightening and positive side of TikTok, where everyone accepts and supports whatever life someone wants to lead. I’ve become much more familiar with appropriate terminology and ways to be a better ally to LGBTQ+ individuals from the amazing content these people create.
Political TikTok: You can leave it to Gen Z to find a way to not only bring awareness to current events but create content that makes fun of it. After any given political event, tweet, interview or news headline has surfaced on the Internet, TikTok will pounce on the content and use popular sounds and video techniques to make fun of or bring attention to the news. With everything that has happened and continues to happen in 2020, political content on TikTok has never been stronger.
Cooking TikTok: One of the more calming and aesthetically pleasing sides of TikTok, these creators are usually cooking meals or snacks while calming music plays in the background. These videos are extra fun to watch at one in the morning, since they can lull you to sleep or make you fetch a late-night snack. One of my favorite cooking creators, @menwiththepot, is a chef who prepares amazing dishes in the woods using a pot (obviously), a cutting board, and a knife. His videos make it even harder for me to not pack a bag and flee into the woods, despite the fact that I once set my smoke alarm off by burning olive oil – I’d probably end up setting the woods on fire.
While TikTok definitely has its pitfalls, I can confidently say I have learned more about so many different communities that I wouldn’t have learned anywhere else. I love that “ordinary people” who aren’t celebrities, or models or comedians can have such a large presence on an app; it makes me feel closer and more a part of all these different communities. Even if you feel like there is nothing on TikTok that may interest you, I can guarantee there is something for everyone (for better or worse;).