TikTok: Absurdist Humor or a Reflection of Generation Z Culture?
Remember that cringey, middle-schooler-infested app called Musical.ly? In 2017, it was acquired by ByteDance, a transnational Chinese-based company which rebranded it as TikTok, an ultra-successful app that has been downloaded more than a billion times since its launch in 2018 and currently has more monthly users than Snapchat or Twitter. We’ve all heard of TikTok and most of us, being part of Generation Z, downloaded it as a joke to see what all of the “hype” was about. TikTok is built upon user-generated content in the form of short videos that frequently play upon memes—many refer to it as an extension of Vine. We’ve seen videos from dance tutorials to clever lip syncs to “duets” with TikTok famous users. TikTok is, in fact, a thriving platform with its own culture and style, but under the facade of a generic social media app is a robust tool designed to help content creators express their creativity to the masses.
ByteDance uses an advanced algorithm to personalize TikTok’s content and hook its users: they provide an FYP (For You Page) which is personalized by a machine-learning system that analyzes each video and tracks user behavior which serves up a continually refined stream of videos optimized to hold users’ attention. This algorithm is similar to those behind Instagram’s “Discover” page and Reddit’s “For You” page, but what’s so different about TikTok is that it consists of a plethora of arbitrary videos—most of which are made by random people—and it does not require that its users have a specific reason to go on the app, as people use the app for pure entertainment.
TikTok also differs from YouTube, a popular and long-standing alternative: YouTube places an emphasis on the creators themselves and strives for perfectly edited videos while TikTok does not. Instead, TikTok focuses on showcasing people’s creativity without the formalities of Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and other social media platforms, and while TikTok offers a unique social media experience, it also provides an outlet through which teens who embody a so-called “edgy” sense of humor are able to connect with other like-minded users. I’ve witnessed many discriminatory videos—often targeting minorities or teens with disabilities—being taken down by TikTok for not following its anti-bullying guidelines. I’d argue that the informal nature of TikTok, unlike most other social media apps, is what allows for the “edgy” humor to shine through in videos that users mainly create as a joke for themselves and their friends.
Not only does TikTok wrestle with internal problems regarding its content, but the app is also an audacious attempt of ByteDance to extend the company’s global media influence. China’s growing tech industry has long been characterized as a threat to the United States—and TikTok is another lucrative and successful medium through which China can spread its influence––however, it’s now beginning to raise security concerns. Earlier this year, Apple and Google removed TikTok from their app stores in India over concerns that the app was being used to spread pornography and TikTok was also banned in Bangladesh for failed attempts to remove pornographic content.
Even more concerning is how the app is being used by Islamic State militants to spread propaganda to a younger audience. These videos featured corpses paraded through streets, Islamic State fighters with guns, and extremists who called themselves “Jihadist and proud.” Following these incidents, the US Federal Trade Commission fined TikTok with $5.7 million for illegally collecting information on minors. TikTok has also censored content that mentions LGBTQ+ rights, Tibetan independence, and the Tiananmen Square protests along with any other content deemed offensive to China. According to the Washington Post, a search for #hongkong on Twitter reveals a posts regarding the city’s mass protests, while the same search on TikTok shows a different version of reality, where users appear to be oblivious to the unrest. It’s obvious that ByteDance’s warped censorship guidelines prioritizes censorship of content in opposition to the Chinese government over all else.
But TikTok remains one of the most popular worldwide apps—it’s loved by many who often ignore its issues. Frankly, I am a fan who falls victim to spending too much time on TikTok, as it’s a medium through which “meme culture” is able to manifest; it has taken over the internet in such a way that memes have become one of the main communication devices for millions of teenagers, and within this phenomenon is the subculture of Gez Z humor. Older generations may call out Gen Z for always being on their phones and never paying attention to the world around them, however, I’d argue that no one pays more attention than Gen Z: memes about the state of the world will range from WWIII draft memes to the impending climate change apocalypse. We understand the state of the world and have chosen to combat this sense of impending doom with humor, and TikTok is a platform where we can do so.
Our occasional absurdist humor should not directly imply that we’re nihilists. There have been plenty of articles written about the absurdist and surreal humor of millennials, too, and I agree that this type of humor’s popularity on the internet is a result of millennials. But millennials are mostly tech-savvy while Gen Zs are tech innate; millennials mainly communicate through words while Gen Zs use images; millennials are not as accustomed to gender-neutral pronouns while Gen Zs are. According to the Pew Research center, our two generations are quite similar in how we view political and social situations but the difference is dependent upon our course of action. Gen Z is full of creative and influential people that have the capacity for change and progress in the world. After all, TikTok is the place where I’ve seen some of the most clever teenagers—and I’m always one let out a laugh for a good joke.
by ABBY SULLIVAN