TikTok was launched in September 2016, and in the four years since its launch, it’s safe to say that it has exploded in popularity with 800 million active users worldwide.

Whether they downloaded it “as a joke,” they use it every day or don’t even have it, most people most likely know about the app TikTok.

TikTok users may also know of it because they might have originally had musical.ly. Musical.ly was a popular short-form video streaming and sharing app, with over 100 million users. However, in August 2018, the app was taken over by a Chinese company ByteDance and it was transformed into “TikTok.”

In October 2018, it was the most-downloaded photo and video app in the Apple store, globally. Additionally, TikTok was ranked as the topmost downloaded app in 2019 and again in 2020.

Of course, COVID-19 was a big boost for the app, as it was installed 63 million times in August of 2020 alone according to businessofapps.com. TikTok helped people escape from the pandemic and escape from reality.

During the Great Depression, people needed somewhere to get away to as well. This prompted the establishment of the entertainment industry. Starting with the first radios being sent to homes in 1920 and 1912, the movie industry boomed. This is where escapism was born.

MilwaukeeIndependent.com defines escapism as a “habitual diversion of the mind to purely imaginative activity or entertainment as an escape from reality or routine.” It allows one to escape from the tragedies of the world they live in. This can be achieved by entertainment.

Nicholas Schueller, teacher of US History A/B and AP Microeconomics, said he “thinks there is a place in this world for escapism as entertainment, but it should come after one has done some real thinking about the world and maybe some reading.

The problem is that TikTok and other similar apps tend to be the default for most people,” Schueller said.

Entertainment has many different examples. If we date back to 264 BC times that is when entertainment began. First, it was gladiator battles or chariot races or processions, then as time went on operas were introduced and theatres were made for plays or poetry.

Moving up the timeline, at the time of the great depression, radios and movies were made along with broadcasting of sports games, which was big at the time.

Then we went on to television and finally apps like Netflix, YouTube and now TikTok.TikTok defines our generation because of how much people use it, but why?

Senior Lexi Buzzell has been on the app for a while now and believes that TikTok has blown up because “there’s so many different content creators so there’s kind of something for everyone to watch. The appeal is watching short videos so you get hooked, and if you don’t like it, a new one is right there on swipe away,” Buzzell said.

TikTok videos can range from 15-60 seconds long, sometimes shorter. Amidst this crazy time in our world, not everyone has time to watch hour-long shows or movies which is why these short videos are much more efficient. You can easily be engaged and engrossed in a video and move on 30 seconds later.

“It’s easy and it doesn’t require much thinking,” Schueller said.

While watching videos is mainly what people do on the app, on the other hand, making videos creates a fun and exciting experience. The thrill of learning a new dance, lip-syncing fashion trends or making a funny video all go into what makes TikTok what it is.

Moreover, sophomore Lauren VanVooren says she enjoys TikTok because of “how easy it is to go viral. It’s crazy to see people become millionaires just because of one video,” VanVoreen said.

Some people just have one viral video, whereas others lives have been changed. Take Charli D’amelio for example. A year ago, she was a high-school sophomore who lived in a small town in Connecticut. D’amelio explained in an interview with Jimmy Fallon how she “posted a duet before going to dance camp one day and all of a sudden, [her] phone started blowing up.”Then, over the course of a few months, she became inexplicably famous.

In March of 2020, two months before her 16th birthday, Charli officially became the most popular person on TikTok according to an article by The Atlantic. As of right now, she has over 109 million followers. According to TikTok Calculator, Damelio averages at around $25,000 per post on TikTok. She is able to make such a large income on her posts not only due to her 109+ million followers but also through various brand deals such as Prada, EOS, Hollister, Dunkin and she was even in the Sabra Hummus Super Bowl Commercial last year.

D’amelio, along with many many others, had her life flipped upside down. She and her family now live in a $5.5 million house in LA and her fame only keeps growing.

Through TikTok’s fun dances, exciting challenges and trends, funny comedy, etc, there is something for everyone of all ages. No matter how people feel about it, it has helped many escape throughout this unsettling year