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Over the weekend I saw a screenshot from a viral video going around on Reddit.
So I did something I hadnt done in a few weeks: opened my TikTok app to watch it.
Not to be that guy, but I came to TikTok early.
Its an actually fun place on the internet, I remember her telling me.
No ones trying to sell you anything.
No children are being exploited.
Its just a bunch of high school and college kids making jokes.
For a few years, it was.
Then COVID-19 hit, and the platform genuinely exploded.
Teenagers like Charli DAmelio and Addison Rae started going mega-viral on the app and soon became household names.
It was a good time, and I now think those years represented the golden age of TikTok.
Its all been downhill from here.
Sure, TikTok is currently a place to make a lot of money.
It is also somewhere people, especially young people, spend a lot of time.
Its the center of culture in many respects, and the stats dont lie.
Why does scrolling through it feel more like homework?
Maybe Im just becoming out of touch.
(I am a millennial and no longer at the forefront of culture, after all.)
But I dont think thats it.
They werent trying to impact culture and go viral, so of course they did.
As more and more people got involved with the platform, more and more of this content was created.
It was everything for everyone, swallowing up every other aspect of pop culture as it went.
Can I make a confession, though?
I always found TikTok a little cringe.
What if you cant dance?
What if you just arent that funny?
Well, a few years after TikToks boom, we now know the answers to these questions.
And theres thechildren-on-the-internet questionthat has haunted every social media platform since their inception.
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To me, all of these are signs that the app may have already peaked.
But there are other ones too.
Like, when was the last time someone truly got famous off TikTok?
(I actually know the answer: It was Alix Earle.)
What about a truly original video?
Maybe you have, and fair enough.
I dont laugh as much, and I dont find as much beauty and lifestyle inspiration.
I am constantly being sold stuff.
Now Im not predicting TikToks imminent demise.
I just think the peak is in our rearview mirror.
What will be the next TikTok after TikTok is anyones guess.
But such is the nature of the social web.
Nothing good can stay.
Stephanie McNeal is a senior editor atGlamourand the authorofSwipe Up for More!
Inside the Unfiltered Lives of Influencers.
