TikTok is taking over the internet like wildfire, and it’s even being hailed as a replacement for the legendary app Vine. The app consists of short videos ranging from about five seconds to about a minute. A variety of different videos are featured,  such as people doing coordinated dances to songs, with stars like Charli Damelio, videos of pets, sports videos, and other comedy or trends, such as one where several people get in a circle and toss up a basketball or other objects and see who gets hit by the ball first, or “Character Select” TikToks, which resemble when you select a character in a video game and it gives you information about the traits and qualities of the character. 

The app has been polarizing since its creation in 2014, when it was called Musical.ly, and remains so right now. Internet users across the world, especially teenagers and young adults, are constantly feuding about the app and whether it’s something that’s actually good for the internet/social media or not. And TL is no different. Junior Joseph MacDaniel told me “I really just joined TikTok because I was bored and why not? There’s a lot of funny videos and the whole app is just a meme.” “Freshman, Ross Feten added “I joined TikTok because it seemed entertaining from other TikToks I’ve seen. But really, I wanted to get the app because I wanted to make fun of my sister’s TikToks.”  But not everyone is so fond of the app. Senior Pavee Aswanetmanee explains “People can do what they want to do, but I believe it’s one of the most cringey things to ever exist on the internet. And it really doesn’t take much skill either.” In addition, Senior, Johnathan Ly, “Even though there are some TikToks that are actually pretty funny, most of them are just really annoying, especially dancing TikToks where people take themselves too seriously.” There’s really no in between with TikTok. You love it or you hate it.

Recently, TikTok has become an issue not only as a debate between internet users, but as a potential international security issue. One of the problems that has arisen is terrorist organization ISIS using the app to spread propaganda and even trying to recruit new members to the organization. According to BusinessInsider.com, the now removed videos contained glorified soldiers with lots of guns, and sometimes even showing dead bodies with ISIS military songs playing in the background. Along with that, The United States government deemed TikTok as a security threat that was worthy of an official investigation. The company who owns TikTok, ByteDance, is based in China, which instantly raised some red flags. According to The Washington Post, multiple United States Senators, including Republican Marco Rubio, Democrat Charles E. Schumer, and Republican Tom Cotton, had specifically requested the investigation TikTok. Rubio stated himself that “I remain deeply concerned that any platform or application that has Chinese ownership or direct links to China, such as TikTok, can be used as a tool by the Chinese Communist Party to extend its authoritarian censorship of information outside China’s borders and amass data on millions of unsuspecting users.” As expected, TikTok came back stating that they’re independent from China, but nonetheless, the investigation will continue. 

TikTok has taken over the internet like a virus. No matter how cringeworthy it may be, or how many problems it causes on a global scale, TikTok seems like it’s here to stay.