For more than 500 million monthly active users, TikTok is a place to let your freak flag fly.
Like Vine, the app is designed for creation and consumption.
For consumers, its an endless time sink that will have you scrolling until your battery dies.
What is TikTok?
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Its a mishmash of content, both good and bad, thatdoesfeature a lot of lip syncing.
But notthattype of lip syncing.
You wont see many cringe-inducing videos where teens are belting My Chemical Romance into the bathroom mirror, anyway.
The glue that holds the platform together is clearly music.
Its not all about music, though.
Memes are prevalent, perhaps the driving force behind the platform itself.
And while youd think that this much copycatting would lead to a boring experience, youd be mistaken.
Duets
Also worth mentioning is the Duet feature.
Its mostly best to stick with dueting just one other user.
From there, youll just record a video as you normally would.
Content
TikTok is a land of paradox.
Certain songs, for example, are only meant to be used for specific types of videos.
Theres Chasing Dragons, a song meant for recovering addicts to tell their stories.
She deleted the video shortly after.
Certain songs have been co-opted and the users know whats coming when they hear it.
This one, for example, has typically been reserved for servicemen and women reuniting with their families.
Your profile is, well, your home on TikTok.
Finding people to follow
Thats notterribleadvice, but theres a better way.
To find content, the easiest place to start is on the #ForYou page.
Lastly, theres the search field.
On the right-hand side of each video is a set of icons.
Or, you might hit the Share icon on the video and then select add to favorites.
Commenting and sharing should be pretty self-explanatory.
The Tune icon brings up other videos that have used the same music.
If you really want to show your appreciation you could tip your favorite users when they go live.
Users can purchase monetary gifts of anywhere from five cents, to $50.
One user reported earnings of $25,000 a month on the platform through partnerships and gifts.
Anything else?
Yeah, the community at TikTok is mostly wonderful.
Have fun out there.
Story byBryan Clark
Bryan is a freelance journalist.Bryan is a freelance journalist.
