TikTok peak of comedy, doesn’t deserve hate

The app TikTok has stirred up a bit of controversy within its target demographic. Some teens call it cringey, however, the app has brought along some of the most relatable humor on the Internet.  

The idea that TikTok is full of cringe is based in reality. Before it was TikTok, Musical.ly had quite the cringey repertoire. In its early days, it was full of trap–thirst artists: teenage boys who flaunt their abs and jawlines for tweenage girls. These boys worked hand in hand with awful lip-syncs to sped up popular songs to create a cringe empire.  

After Musical.ly rebranded itself as TikTok, there was a change in pace. Some of the bad lip-syncs and thirst-traps still remain, but it’s an evolved platform. Most of the content is humor now. I’ve honestly never seen funnier content on the Internet. 

Comedy TikTokers still back their videos with prerecorded sounds and songs like they did during the Musical.ly days. Sometimes, these songs are just background music to the actions of the video. When TikTokers do lip-sync to the sounds, they often use them comedically by only lip-syncing to one part of the song as a punchline.  

The algorithm of TikTok is genius. I’ve never seen a more accurate recommendation system. I laugh at every video on my ‘For You’ page. They really do take your likes and find more videos using the same style of humor. I don’t know how they do it, but it makes for great results.  

This is likely why people think TikTok is full of the same cringe; if all you watch is awful thirst-traps, all you’re going to see on your feed is awful thirst-traps.  

TikTok is an amazing creative outlet. I’ve personally only made three TikToks, and the most viewed one is of my cat. This doesn’t mean that the real creators make as low-grade content as I do. These creators come up with jokes, bits and sketches that I would have never thought of.  

Creators aren’t just bored teenagers in their rooms, either. Many celebrities and influencers use TikTok as either another social media or another content platform. Even the Nebraska Humane Society and the Washington Post have TikTok accounts, and their content is hilarious. Teenagers do however make up a large portion of these TikTokers, of course, including many Central students who wind up being “TikTok famous.”  

There is no real backing for the hate TikTok gets. Yes, in a past life, Musical.ly was full of cringe. But that’s not how TikTok is now. In this moment, TikTok is one of the most hilarious content platforms on the Internet.