Tik Tok’s Unimaginable Reach
Ana Duque
There is no doubt that in the short time of its existence, social media has taken the world by storm. Rather than a gradual increase in its popularity, social media apps have become a primary aspect of almost every person’s life. One social media app in particular displays this phenomena like no other. Tik Tok, in the four years that it has existed with the name, has amassed 3 billion downloads; a feat that only facebook had accomplished previously. Its three billion users all experience a personalized and constant feed of video content from the moment they click on the music note icon that represents the app.
To try to quantify the impact and reach of Tik Tok, I looked at the google trends for two simple phrases: “Josh Safdie” and “Uncut Gems.” They are two names that many people had heard before, especially in 2019 when the movie, directed by Safdie, actually came out. But, over the last month, when actress Julia Fox did an interview with Alex Cooper of “Call Her Daddy,” there is likely no one in the English-speaking world with Tik Tok downloaded that has not heard the iconic snippet. In it, Cooper asks Fox if she is Kanye West’s muse, and Fox replies, not humbly, “Yeah, a little, maybe…I mean I was Josh Safdie’s muse when he wrote Uncut Gems.” Even now, as I write this I find myself typing the words directly from memory. This interview, which was released on February 8, has spread on Tik Tok so rapidly and effectively that most people could probably recite the words from memory.
Over the past twelve months, google trend clearly shows that the amount of people searching the term “Josh Safdie” increased exponentially from the week of February 6–12. Before, he was a relatively well-known director, known best amongst committed movie fanatics. Now, he is basically a household name.
Similarly, the term “Uncut Gems” had a similar result on Google Trends. The popularity of the term skyrocketed over the last three weeks. Although it peaked in late 2019 when the A24 film was initially released, the term has become popular once again, almost two years later, all because of a 20 second clip that went viral on Tik Tok.
As Tik Tok’s popularity continues to grow in the coming years, we need to be aware of its impact and make sure that we limit the potential dangers that may come as a result of the app’s reach and power.
