Generational Zoomer here. I love swiping for DIYs on Tik Tok.
Moved to IMHO (from GQ)
I’m a retired Boomer and I’ve never looked at the site nor am I particularly curious. Frame of reference - I don’t generally watch on-line video content of any type. It’s rare that I watch YouTube or click on video links posted by friends or family. This would fall into that same basket of disinterest. Not against it, just not interested.
I have it on my phone and watch it once in awhile. It can be a time suck for me so I don’t go there often. Some of the videos are really fun.
I don’t even know what it is about. I thought it was people dancing.
I feel old.
In general, I hate video DIY. People don’t know how to compose, edit, or speak, or turn down the radio in the background. I have never seen one that wasn’t too long by half. That’s probably because they just start talking without a plan or direction.
If TikTok is like that, no thanks.
I found tik-tok pretty useful for DYI, and often faster to absorb than a YouTube video. That said, I not only found myself being occasionally sidetracked and wasting more time than was good for me, but I didn’t feel like I could 100% control the content I got. Eventually I deleted it.
I’m 54. SO MUCH FUN! Its enjoyable to learn new things, its fun to see the slices of life from other people in locations I’ll never see or visit, and I love seeing kids just be kids - do dumbass skits, sing or dance to things, or jump into lakes. It greatly amuses me that I seem to enjoy watching people ranch or farm, and I LOVE seeing the people interact with baby cows. Its a great app.
TocTok started off with a 15-second limit for video length, moved to 60 seconds, and recently moved again to 3 minutes. So unless you feel that a DIY video really only needed a minute and a half, I think we are good on this point.
Good to hear!
No interest. I’m a regular FB’er (with my account as locked as I can get it and FB Purity downloaded to weed out the garbage) but that’s pretty much it. Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat … none of it interests me. I do cruise YouTube for certain DIY things and weird things like car detailing zen and dash cam videos, but that’s about it.
I waste enough time here 
I like him.
I don’t know if it’s specific to my phone or whatever, but for me the TikTok app is glitchy to the point that I’ve only used it to watch one or two videos, total. I also don’t particularly like the TikTok format. I watch a lot of youtube, so it’s not that I don’t like watching short-ish videos, but TikTok doesn’t appeal to me.
Don’t. It’s addictive.
I spend waaaay too much time scrolling on Tik Tok. I started making daily-ish content this month. I get around 100 views on each video. I’ve gotten maybe an additional dozen followers or so. It’s fun.
Its OK, I’ve checked it out a few times but it doesnt hold my interest enough to keep going back unless I am directed there. Sort of like Twitter. Not enough substance to warrant my getting involved.
Last year during the lockdowns, my company asked their employees to submit videos of themselves doing various activities during the lockdown, and then these videos were played at a conference call.
Quite a few of the employees submitted TikTok videos of themselves or with their kids. I was not impressed. It looks like something an 8 year old me would partake in, perhaps even 12 year old me, but certainly not 15+ years old me.
I wish there was a way to keep it from looping, and just auto-advance to the next video.
Or maybe not, at that point it would become a video junkie’s IV bag…
I don’t have the app and I’ve only glanced at the app on my mom’s phone (my nieces have channels I guess so they put it on her phone) and I found it overwhelming. I’m 42 (Last year for GenX)
That being said I probably watch 10-20 TikToks a day that are reposted to Reddit. They are always very clever or cute or cool!!
I never had Vine but I always loved watching Vine compilations on Buzzfeed or YouTube. People really did incredible stuff in 6 seconds.
My mom wanted me to make “a TikTok” for my cousin who is in rehab, composed from videos sent from various family members dancing to the same music. I was able to do this by importing them all into a video creation program on my PC and spending a couple hours editing. I have NO idea how people are making such awesome videos on their phones! I’m really in awe.
I just read a short article today in Wired about how TilTok is so GenX. I guess we really like it. I don’t know if it’s GenXers who are doing content, or if it’s our kids.
I spend too much time on Reddit already so I’m not going to get the TikTok. But I dig it!!
I’m 60 and I really enjoy it. It’s the only social media I ever look at. I don’t do FB, Instagram, or whatever else is out there. I usually spend a half hour on it in the evening. But it is very addicting and the time will shoot by without you realizing it.
I’ve found on Tik Tok:
Quite a few easy, quick and good recipes.
Phone hacks
General hacks
Cute, funny animal videos
There is also a lot of crappy and very sad videos on there that I usually swipe by. My daughter, who lives 150 miles away, and I have a lot of fun sending each other funny, bizzaro, cute, interesting Tik Tok videos. We don’t get to see each other very often, so it’s a way of bonding. We both LOVE Cairo the African gray parrot’s videos. Hilarious
For what it’s worth, I like TikTok videos when they show up in other sites/apps that I browse. The short format seems to lead to conciseness and creativity.
That being said, I’ve watched too many of these apps/services come and go in a short period of time, so I don’t get invested in any of them.
I really enjoy TikTok, but yes, it can be a time suck. There is some really amusing and creative content on there and in small bites.