The latest new trend among teens and young people alike is the highly successful short-form video platform called TikTok, which has over 1 billion all-time downloads according to Business Insider. How it works is that users share videos from a vast amount of different categories, from viral challenges to lip syncing videos. But what makes it popular though? What attracts the 1 million daily viewers to the social network? 

     “The duet feature offered on the app,” said senior Christen Luzadas. The duet feature is a unique trait only on TikTok, where it offers people to have their videos placed beside each others so they play at the exact same time. According to the verge, duets are a core part of the TikTok experience.

      “People want to jump on the bandwagon and know what everyone’s talking about,” said junior Sarah Hunter. This correlates with the statistics from Globalwebindex, where 41 percent of TikTok users are aged between 16 and 21 years of age. So, with this being said this statistic shows the true prominence that TikTok has over teens. 

“Seeing a lot of people on insta using it made me want to get it,” senior Sydney Lawrence said .   

Lawrence helps support Hunter’s statement of teens wanting to jump on the bandwagon of what’s popular, and people popular on Instagram set the trends for others to follow. 

Is TikTok healthy for teenagers mental health? According to sophomore Trista Gornicz, it might have more of a negative impact on teens.

“Social media in general has a big impact and it can distract you from other important things, like homework,” she said. 

According to Eastside Online, Netflix and Hulu have the ability to steal someone’s time for hours due to the fact that students would much rather watch their favorite shows and movies than work on their homework. This applies to TikTok as well, as students often put off their studies for the app. 

Hunter agreed with this, saying “Highschoolers spend too much time on it, which causes stress.” 

According to The Jakarta Post, people experience stress due to social media because they’re unable to get quality sleep which will then lead to stress in not doing well in school or work. 

But TikTok also allows its users to showcase their creativity and passion through making their own content, which can be a positive and negative outcome depending on the individual.

 “It’s a good way to express your feelings,” said Lawrence. 

  However, as stated before, there can be some negatives with using TikTok creatively. 

TikTok can be a negative thing based on the inappropriate duets that people make,” said Luzadas. 

TikTok can be a positive or negative thing to someone depending on how they use it, and how much time they spend on it. However, by itself based on the statistics and other sources listed, it does not seem to be a toxic thing to the public. 

“From the one who sent you this-a TikTok viral trend,” Hunter said.