Sarah Linder ‘22 never thought she would wake up to 300 thousand views on a TikTok of her dancing on top of her stairs with her dog right up close to the camera. Linder’s video reached 60 thousand likes, that essentially makes her TikTok famous.

Dancing around the house blasting music and taking videos all at the same time used to be very complicated. Thanks to TikTok, it is now one of the easiest things to do. TikTok has become a new part of school. On another note, TikTok did originate from Musical.ly, so there are a lot of songs involved in the app. It has now become super trendy to dance on TikTok. Dancing is a major way to get famous off of the app, and that is exactly what Linder did. “I wanted to try and experience new things, and a good way to express myself was through making videos. It made me really happy to see one of my videos go viral,” Linder said. 

TikTok is more than dancing though. A lot of people make funny videos, or videos of them trying to act. Linder was more enthused about the comedy side of the app. “I was actually disappointed to see that the video of my dog in the camera with me dancing in the background went viral. I was happy but I rather would have had one of the funny TikTok’s blow up like that. Most of the comments were about how my dog was in the sun,” Linder said.

Other people from the school have also had viral videos from TikTok, but Linder does not think she fits into their crowd yet. “I’d say I am not ready to join them since I’m new to this ‘famous world’,” Linder said. “I don’t think they would think I am anywhere near as cool but its okay, I’ll join the vibe soon.” She also thinks she does not fit into their crowd because the students getting fame are only dancing, and not comedy.

Practicing dances to post after school, making funny content, and watching videos for hours. They learn all about the tea of the popular creators on the app and become invested in their lives. Along with this app consuming all students with the entertainment aspect, it is sort of helping them get in shape. Learning dances like “Renegade” and ”Get Up” take lots of time and effort. “It takes a lot for me to learn a TikTok dance,” Wendy Avalos ’21 said. “I usually start by finding someone who did the dance really well and I duet their video and keep trying until the dance is memorized in my head. I have learned a lot of dances and it is one of my favorite past times.”

Linder appreciates the fame she has received. “If you want to get famous, even though I got famous off of a dancing video, try to make funny ones.” Linder said. “They blow up more often, and the funny people on TikTok have lots of popular videos of them just being pure comedy.” The scariest thing about this whole “fame phenomenon” is that it could happen to anyone. It could be someone random, or someone you know. Either way, somehow, dancing on an app has become a way to get a following.