As a generation, we strive to be different from our peers, but if you look across the room, there is someone wearing the same outfit as you. TikTok is known for allowing users to explore their individuality and creativity, but is this really the case? Content creators tend to use the same trending sounds and ideas to bump up their views, which doesn’t seem like originality. If you think about it, almost everything that has been popular in the last three years is thanks to TikTok.
Ever since I can remember, my family has had a tradition where we sit around the television and watch the Grammys. The list of 2023 Grammy nominees is out and it’s hard to ignore that many of the nominated titles were trending on TikTok at some point in the last year. The problem with TikTok having so much control over what is “in” and what is “out” is that the app has almost 100% control over pop culture. Want to be a singer? You won’t make it in the music industry if TikTok doesn’t love it. I find this to be problematic because you don’t even have a chance at promoting your work if TikTok users don’t use it to make a dance, remix or a day-in-the-life video.
Before TikTok, new music was found on the radio or by friends. Of course, there were always niche communities where you had to be part of the in-crowd to discover the artist. TikTok is a major promoter of consumerism since trends come and go within a few days. We are streaming and buying music we wouldn’t have discovered without it. The app allowing users to discover new things isn’t inherently a bad thing, but it is when the social media giant prides itself on encouraging a falsely creative environment.
A person that creates a trend is creative, even someone who makes a trend on their own by changing the dance moves or changing the skit is creative. However, those that jump on the trend and recreate the same videos as the previous thousand people are not creative. They aren’t coming up with their own idea, they’re just recreating someone else’s. Everyone is following the same trends that are changing so fast that it’s almost impossible to keep up. Even I’m guilty of trying to keep up. By the time my Lululemon Belt Bag came in, it was old news.
This article isn’t intended to be a personal attack towards those who enjoy making videos with Taylor Swift’s latest album or even those who are eagerly waiting for their latest purchase to arrive. Still, it’s my hope that we start to think about what exactly we’re idealizing and the outcome on the individuality of our generation.