Within the last few months, a social media platform has become extremely popular, attracting teenagers from all over the world. This video-sharing app, called TikTok, has demanded the attention of over 500 million active users. In the app, profiles are able to post videos, lasting a maximum of one minute. These videos pop up on their followers’ “following” pages and additionally on other users’ “for you” page, which has a stream of videos from random users who you may or may not know. After posting a TikTok, you can track its success by watching how many views and likes it gets. These numbers are what has caused certain individuals to achieve fame within the app. They are also responsible for motivating many teens to keep posting content in hopes of one video blowing up and making them a TikTok star overnight.

To become Tik Tok famous, many people are convinced there is an algorithm or certain things you have to do with your videos to show up on people’s “for you” pages and reach a large audience. To test this theory, a couple of friends and I decided we would see if we could figure out the highly sought out question of how to become TikTok famous. After a couple of weeks on the app, this is what we have observed…

You have a better shot at becoming TikTok famous if you hop onto a trend. Different “challenges” and dances are all over TikTok for users to recreate on their own. Being original is valued in many aspects of life, however, TikTok is not one of these. People like to see you recreate trends-something they are familiar with and know what to expect. However, if originality is your thing, you are allowed to stray from the trend slightly by adding a twist. Sometimes when you add something unexpected, viewers do appreciate your originality even though you’re still very much so hopping on a trend. In other words, stick to what’s trending and if you’re feeling creative, add your own twist- it may or may not work out. 

Secondly, we learned you need to use popular audio. We came to this conclusion because as we were scrolling through the “for you” page, almost every single viral video had a song that was trending on the app. Some people even attached a popular song but turned its volume way down so you weren’t actually able to hear it, but it was still technically on the video. 

Next, as with most, if not all forms of visual entertainment, people tend to like videos that are visually pleasing. That means things like camera quality and editing skills are important. Additionally maybe the most noted is the fashion style/appearances of users in their videos. It is extremely common for my “for you” page to be filled with what most people would consider good looking humans. So, if you want to get some TikTok clout, I suggest cleaning up and looking your best. Just remember, dress to impress!

Lastly, accompanying each video is space for a caption. Everyone finishes their captions with “#fyp #you #forpage.” Since literally everyone adds this to the end, it’s hard to tell if this attachment really does help you or not. At the end of the day, I guess it won’t hurt to add it in case it does!

During the next few weeks, my friends and I will experiment to see what combination of these works best. Stay tuned for my next column to see our results and perhaps you’ll be reading an article written by a TikTok star! 😉