How it's like being an older millennial on TikTok

I’ve ignored TikTok for so long because I’m old (34 is ancient over there) and frankly didn’t easily understand it. I thought it was only for people who enjoyed sharing their dance moves (of which I have approximately zero in both appreciation and execution) and making funny dubs of random sounds. But I had to figure out TikTok for work, so I went on a soul-searching journey to try and divine the true meaning of the top social app in the world.

The first thing I learned is that everything - and I mean literally EVERYTHING - goes. The only rule on TikTok is that there is no rule. You can make a channel on common, covetable things like food, travel, beauty, cute pets, the usual. But there is also fascinating content on esoteric topics like snakes, how people dress in the 1700s, and doggy anal sac cleaning.

The most random, effortless things go viral, like an unconsidered fart traveling around the world. People make their fortunes over there. And me? I’m just doing what I’ve always done, but just in a different platform. I’ve been in beauty for 14 years now, blogging as if my life depended on it, and eventually it did. But long-form content is a tough sell in a world where 90 seconds is already too long for a finger that’s just itching to scroll down, down, down.

I sound doomy. I don’t mean to. I truly enjoy TikTok now. I have a small following, with a modest 250,000+ in total views since I started seriously making content for it earlier this year. It’s fun to think of new ways to talk about a product I like and joining in trendy hacks. It really is so pleasant to spend only maybe 15 minutes TOTAL for shooting and editing a TikTok. I love seeing my favorite BeautyTokers like Belle Rodolfo, Kai Javier, and Marj Maroket doing their thing. So I feel like hey, I finally get it. Maybe I belong here.

I guess this is my reminder to myself that it’s not too late to learn new things.