When you’re old enough to recall the song of Kesha’s “Tik Tok,” you might have been “old” by the standard definition–the song came out in 2009 — but you’re probably too old to have any idea of the alternative TikTok app that has the identical name. Young and teenagers are the prominent people who use the application that can be described loosely as a social media platform for music videos made by amateurs (users can create their videos and watch other people’s). If you’re familiar with it, you might have heard of it under its previous title, Musical.ly. What is the reason it’s being referred to as something else? What sets it apart from other apps that teenagers are so obsessed with? Does it have a value of one billion dollars? Do amateur music videos worth it? The answers to these and many more questions are provided below in this article on TikTok made specifically for people who have never attempted the #raindropchallenge or the #posechallenge, or most importantly, the #levelupchallenge. You can also buy TikTok views with Streamular.
What is Musical.ly, and why was it changed to TikTok?
Musical.ly was launched at the end of 2014 (it was created in 2014 by Chinese entrepreneurs Alex Zhu and Luyu Yang) and soon gained a loyal audience over the following years. In November 2017, it was bought by ByteDance, a Beijing-based company in technology and media. According to reports, it was acquired by ByteDance for the sum of $1 billion. In the early days, ByteDance already owned a similar application, TikTok, which was launched in China in 2016. Musical.ly with TikTok were equally popular. However, each had its particular place in the globe, according to Reuters–the first within the Americas in the Americas and Europe, which had 100 million active users per month (who were known as “Musers”–it’s uncertain if that label remains) as well as the second located in Asia that had 500 million users of the same. In reality, TikTok was also the most popular iOS application in the first quarter of the year, per market research. The decision of ByteDance to merge the two apps as one application was a step towards efficiency. In addition, the company informed Reuters it had decided to decide that TikTok “better reflects the breadth of content created on our platform that extends beyond music to comedy, performance art, and more.” That’s why at the beginning of August, TikTok took over Musical. ly–all user accounts and videos were transferred to TikTok as well as the application that was previously known as Musical.ly has been shut down. (Due to China’s strict internet laws, TikTok remains a standalone application in China and is known as Douyin and has more than 300 million active users per month.)
What else was changed since the app changed to TikTok?
Not so much! The update notes promised “new creator tools and interactive filters” along with “bug fixes and performance improvements.” These included the capability of post “reactions,” new filters, and background effects. Users also were given access to content that spans more countries, as well as more customized suggestions. Digital mindfulness is all the rage; the latest app can warn users if they’ve used it for longer than 2 hours.
In a video that reviewed the new application, YouTuber LifeWithErick said that the older Musical.ly application showed in its profiles the number of videos users have posted on the site and the number of videos they liked. Still, these features were removed after the update. The camera, the font, and the way drafts are displayed.
Duration of TikTok video clips?
Like the much-loved apps Vine, Musical.ly encouraged creativity within stringent limits. Instead of the six seconds which defined Vine and now Musical.ly as well as TikTok, 15 seconds was the most coveted number. It’s the highest limit you can set to record on the app, but users can stitch these clips together to create stories between 60 and 90 seconds. Users can also choose to upload longer-length videos not made in the application.
What do people do on TikTok? Are they just lip-synching?
Lip syncs were the initial motive behind Musical.ly; however, it became famous for more than music. (“2017 will be remembered as the year that Musical.ly changed from a primary app for sharing music videos, to a more broad social-media and entertainment site,” the Wall Street Journal published in November.) The choice to choose the TikTok platform will only become more so as time goes on.
Dancing is one of the most popular features on the app and is understandable because of its musical roots, as are other motion-based games like gymnastics, cheerleading, or parkour. The popularity of comedy is immense, but it’s usually based on lip-syncing, that’s more known than it is explained. Here’s a clip of a woman lip-syncing to the famous “catch me outside” clip from the episode of Dr. Phil’s show that brought us the rapper Bhad Bhabie. The app also has media giants like NBCUniversal and Seventeen present brief “shows” directed at young people. In essence, you will get a bit of everything.
How can one get around TikTok?
Like the videos on Vine or Instagram Stories and, as is typical for the mobile-first app, TikTok videos are vertical. It’s not just the one aspect of the platform that may sound familiar. There are filters similar to Snapchat, as well as the ability to express your appreciation with “hearts,” which are similar to “likes.” The app will be easy to use when you’ve been elsewhere on social media.
Once you have downloaded TikTok and then opened it on your smartphone, the video will begin immediately without having to select a single option (just like in IGTV ). The videos automatically play are featured videos, labeled “for you,” which the app has decided for its users to highlight. Users can also change to “following” to see videos of the people they follow. Maybe you’ll follow your friends, the famous “Musers,” or just people that amuse you. The home button at the bottom left corner will open an upcoming video.
For more exploration, click to use the magnifying glasses icon next to the home icon, which lets you search for critical keywords and hashtags–yes, TikTok uses hashtags–and look into the popular things on TikTok. In videos, you can tap the screen to stop (as with Instagram Stories) and then look on the right for the icon for the user of that video’s creator (which will direct you to the profile of that user) as well as it’s several “hearts” it got (you can click to make it a heart as well) as well as the number of comments that it received (click to read the comments). At the bottom of the video, look for the name of the user along with the caption, as well as the name of the track playing. Captions typically include more hashtags that you can search for by clicking them. TikTok has a library of videos of the most popular songs. However, users can also make their music as well as “original sound,” which could be anything from the voice of the person speaking to a different portion of a track to an earworm that is a bit of a mystery. Click the song you like to view other videos related to the track.