What actually is Tiktok, and why is it so popular?

What actually is Tiktok, and why is it so popular?

Tiktok is simply one of the many different social networks that exist on the internet. But unlike most, in its early years, it was a platform mainly for China, the far east and other Asian countries. But you should note, this is a platform for videos of an individual, hence the rise to fame for its duo sharing system.

The reason for the rise to fame of Tiktok, was ironically, Trump’s attempts to ban it or force it into a States based company. This bumped the platform into the limelight, and the heat just kept on rising, until the platform wasn’t in the face of the Western world. It became an untapped mine for the visual receptors of the West. So that is the reason for its rise. It wasn’t just that a figurehead said it was banned, but now that it had a custom built video system, that made it all the more popular.

Why does it serve us?

One major reason is, it simply can allow videos to be sent to us. But in 2026 however, it more lets us fill a gap we find ourselves in, as a byproduct of our fractured social lives. Do you remember the 90s, when computer boards weren’t common, and we relied on good old human intimacy? Then, filming a video, let alone sending it was an experience! At the time there simply wasn’t the demand for video based conversation to balance it out? Fast forward to today and, 90% of the world have traded human intimacy for the glow of a mobile screen. Physical contact with another human, is limited in the office or living room, because everywhere else, everyone ‘social’ is just a ghost to fill our Facebook feeds.

This is the reason that tools such as Tiktok become excessively popular. At its core, this is what it provided. We relied on these platforms to formulate our videos and send our messages, to get some kind of sustenance of human contact.