Do you remember the short-video trend that went on in 2016? The very popular videos, named Vines, made a huge splash in video culture. The pure amount of Vine videos made was amazing, and the humor that they brought to viewers was a nice break from a rough day. Unfortunately, the name Vine was rarely heard of again..

This change happened a few years later with the creation of TikTok, a social media platform that took the world by storm. TikTok, popular for the simplicity and short length of its videos, quickly grew in both users and viewers. A SCHS student, named Sam Rieck, describes it as, “. . .short one hit wonders.” Shortly after filters and challenges were coming out, some not so safe, but regardless, people enjoyed both creating and viewing videos.

So how are TikTok and Vine similar? They both have shorter video lengths, are generally humorous, and the challenges that were previously mentioned were used in TikTok and in Vine, and much more on top of that. Basically, TikTok is the new Vine.

The short video length that TikTok and Vine have can turn off some people from watching. Rain Sidwell, a student who occasionally watches TikTok, mentioned that she likes, “things where you have to get all logical, and dive deep into something.” When asked if she thought these videos did that, she elaborated and said, “they can kind of do that, but I prefer something longer.” So one of the greatest draws of the platforms, can also make it unattractive to others.

When it comes to TikTok, the platform excels in simplicity and efficiency. As you watch a video, the clip fills your screen and a variety of buttons appear on top of the video to the right. These buttons can be used to like the video, view the profile of the person who made that video, or comment on the video. Along with that, any songs used are listed at the bottom. Then, to go to the next video you just scroll up. The design is easy to use, and it’s clearly reflected in the millions of people that watch it. It’s a major upgrade from Vine, even though they were created just four years apart from each other.

When it comes to the users on TikTok, 41% of them are aged between 16 and 24 . The entire student population here at Silver Creek is a part of this age group, meaning that there are bound to be quite a few students that are users on TikTok. Even for Emma Scharf, who’s interest in social media is very little, wasn’t zero when it came to TikTok. This student’s response when asked if she had any interest in TikTok in general or creating a video of her own, was positive. “Potentially” she said. A testament to the ever growing app’s popularity.

So with everyone calling, “. . . TikTok the new Vine”, as Sidwell later comes to say in her interview; is TikTok on the same path as Vine? According to Rieck, “I think it’ll die out and something will replace it.” It’s not that hard to imagine with the way that Vine quickly disappeared. Hopefully we can expect to see TikTok for longer, but who knows what will happen.