In conclusion, I found that TikTok had an immense presence in the information that many teenagers were absorbing. It gave many of them new perspectives, showed them new information about the pandemic, and gave safety tips and guidelines for the general public. The part of my research that I found surprising was that TikTok became the most popular app during the pandemic and it was a really big contributor when it came to spreading information about the virus. It helped me get more in-depth into my question because it became more interesting as I went deeper into details. For the most part, it showed me things that I had no knowledge of and it changed my way of thinking as I didn’t think TikTok would have that great of an influence on teenagers. The most important part about this was that TikTok became a fast-growing app due to the coronavirus and it helped to create some stability in our society. It did so by spreading out safety guidelines to follow as we progressed towards safer conditions to go outside. This information is absolutely necessary for teenagers since most of them use the app daily. Since TikTok has a huge influence on many teenagers it can help shape their knowledge of the information they learn about many things.Â
Author: Kofil Uddin
Unni, Zoya, “Shelter In Place, Connect Online: Trending TikTok Content During The Early Days Of The U.S. COVID-19 Pandemic,” Journal Of Adolescent Health, Volume 68, Issue 5, 3 April 2021, https://www-sciencedirect-com.citytech.ezproxy.cuny.edu/science/article/pii/S1054139X21000975
Zoya Unni’s article called “Shelter In Place, Connect Online: Trending TikTok Content During The Early Days Of The U.S. COVID-19 Pandemic” explores what time people spent during the early stages of the coronavirus on TikTok and how it affected their knowledge of the coronavirus. It explains how the app gave many people new health and safety tips during the pandemic, explored the many different lives people were living at home during that time and explained the major reasons why TikTok had many reasons to become popular among the general public. TikTok created a socially engaging environment/community that allowed tons of people to connect with each other by watching short videos. The app as a whole became some sort of “documentary” of the “pandemic life” and it did a great job doing so as was stated by the analytics of the article.
After reading this I was surprised to see the amount of impact and growth of the TikTok community that teenagers had joined in on. It also impacted me as well since I was also a part of this community of users on this app. This app actually had an impact on teenagers and I was able to relate to the part that stated that TikTok had shaped most of the understanding/knowledge of the coronavirus. I initially didn’t think it would but most of the guidelines for social distancing and other safety standards were spread through the use of TikTok’s social media influence.
The author’s credibility is really good as she went to the Paul D. Schreiber high school where she graduated in the top three of her school. She was selected to be a part of the program called the “Regeneron Science Talent” which is a really good program that looks for really talented individuals. Unni’s writing style is that of an informative article that mainly gives off lots of information and shared statistics as well. Her purpose for writing this was to inform the readers on how the pandemic affected people and mostly teenagers as the article stated that “A literature review written in the early days of the pandemic argued that social media could shape teen perceptions about COVID-19 in ways that were beneficial” (1). This means that teenagers got influenced by the rising trend of TikTok use and it changed their way of thinking about the virus.
I believe that the author is really credible because the information she claimed was thoroughly backed up by other references and it also was something that I could relate to as I was a part of the teens that used TikTok. I believe that the author chose this genre because it was very informative as all articles should be and also it was a good choice for the intended audience because it really gave an impact. I felt how much change TikTok had on me as a teenager during the pandemic since it became famous during that time. I am a member of the audience that it was intended for and it really gave me a new perspective of what the app has done during the pandemic. Therefore, I believe that the author is very credible and it was a good choice for the intended audience.
Zea Vera Alonso MD., et al, “The Phenomenology of Tics and Tic-Like Behavior in TikTok,” Pediatric Neurology, Volume 130, 26 February 2022, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0887899422000212
Alonso Zea Vera MD’s research article “The Phenomenology Of Tics And Tic-Like Behavior In TikTok” suggests that the “TikTok tics” are a form of Tourette syndrome that is passed through the vigorous use of TikTok. This research article suggests that it gives many people the disability of making random noises or speaking random words at random times because of uncontrollable impulses. It also stated that the impulses are somewhat different from the regular Tourette syndrome as it is “reportedly” much worse and it is also influenced by the environment. However, in the end, it is known that TikTok has deeply misled people about the syndrome and is spreading misleading information.
As I read this research paper I was surprised as to how the information all made sense towards the end. At first, when reading about the “TikTok Tics” I was thinking that this article wasn’t reliable and it might’ve been a waste of time. But after further investigation, I realized that the authors were just researching this so-called “disease” and they didn’t really directly tell me it was a real thing. For example, “TS symptom portrayals on highly viewed TikTok videos are predominantly not representative or typical of TS” (1). This meant that the tics are totally different from what I thought at first and that it was nothing related to the actual Tourette syndrome. I didn’t think it was going to be as interesting as it was and it just gave me new insights and points of view on TikTok usage during the pandemic.
Alonso Zea Vera MD is a Pediatric Movement Disorders specialist at Children’s National Hospital in Washington DC. He specializes in research neurophysiologic studies in Tourette syndrome, dystonia, and other pediatric movement disorders. He has dozens of publications that deal with his research and profession. This publication is a peer-reviewed research paper that has many citations and references on where he got his information and research from. This research paper is from volume 130, Pages 14-20, written in May 2022, and is from the book “Pediatric Neurology.” This textbook is about the study of disorders dealing with the body and its many complex systems. I find it very reliable as it is a textbook that many doctors use and it is very informative.
I believe that this author chose the genre of a research paper because it is what he specializes in. Zea Vera deals with many forms of research dealing with neurology and disorders, he is a professional in that field of work so it was only natural for him to have chosen it. I believe that this research paper was a good idea for the intended audience because I know for sure that I am one of the audience and I can tell from my own experience that it was quite informative and surprising. It was great to read it since it gave a lot of important information that the audience would want to know about this so-called “disease” people were referring to.
Southerton, Clare. “Lip-Syncing And Saving Lives: Healthcare Workers On TikTok.” International journal of communication, July 2021, pp. 3248+. Gale Academic OneFile,
https://go-gale-com.citytech.ezproxy.cuny.edu/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=cuny_nytc&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA679119450&inPS=true&linkSource=interlink&sid=bookmark-AONE, Accessed 29 Mar. 2022.
Clare Southerton’s newspaper article explores the common uses and social interactions online provided by TikTok. It explains that most healthcare professionals are using TikTok as a platform to share their emotions as well as safety information regarding the raging pandemic. It tells us that teenagers, who use this app mostly, are able to be taught many things regarding the pandemic through the use of this app, but could also be giving off misinformation. The healthcare workers were worried that fake information would be spread so they implemented a way for official information to be emphasized versus the misconceptions to be emphasized as being incorrect.
I believe this newspaper article has all the good traits a viable source of information would have. It was clear and was to the point in directing the readers to what the important segment of it was. I was able to grasp the important information quickly and enjoyed reading the details and reports being discussed. The part that caught my eye the most was how they solved the issue of misinformation through the use of emphasizing the correct/official information.
Southerton is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Vitalities Lab, Social Policy Research Centre, and Centre for Social Research in Health, UNSW Sydney. She has many fields of research including sociology, social theory, digital health, etc. This article is a newspaper article with a lot of references that were used and she even included her own personal experiences when it came to her observations. For example, “Using an autoethnographic approach to my observation, I recorded and reflected on these feelings and affective shifts in my fieldwork notes. Not all of the content was relevant, as popular hashtags can be targeted to raise the profile of irrelevant material” (1). This showed me that she used her own experience to show how she found the research material she needed to be able to get the information. The purpose of this article is to inform many people about how TikTok was used as a social media platform for spreading health and safety information due to its massive amount of users. I found that this source was very reliable in showing the advantages and disadvantages of TikTok.
I believe that the author chose the genre of newspaper article because she wanted to make sure that this article was read by tons of people. Since newspapers are printed and posted online daily, this gives them a chance to be read by millions of people. This was a good choice for the intended audience since people who read the newspapers will most likely be attracted by this headline and it will be really informative. It gave lots of information that could give new perspectives to people who usually use TikTok.
During these past few years, social media has had a big effect on teenagers. It was mostly around 2019-2021. Especially throughout the first few incidents relating to the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the black lives matter protests, and many others. These events I am researching are going to be specifically the ones that took place in New York City. There are many that say that social media can be seen as good and others say that it is bad. Most of the population who use it are teenagers. Social media has many helpful aspects to it such as being able to use it as a form of communication, to look at the latest news, events, trends, and interact with their friends on a daily basis. The negative aspects are how it can cause depression, anxiety, cases of cyberbullying, etc. To figure out if social media has more good than bad I will research what causes social media to be as popular as it is and how it affects the teenagers living in New York. There have been many instances and events where the use of social media has taken a huge role in those events.
In Rahmani’s “Chronicles of a Once Pessimistic College Freshman,” we figure out that his intellectual home is his college. This is his Intellectual Home because he became very attached to his classes and became more engaged in his classes throughout the story. His broad-mindedness also expanded as he continued his semester. He learned to be more engaging, which led him to adopt the college as his Intellectual Home. The lesson he learned was to engage and be more productive by being open to trying out everything that his college offered him. The people and the environment all impacted him soon after he went through the process of becoming more academically engaged towards his career. Although he saw the school as a prison, counting the time as the hours went by, he learned to see the beauty in it as he progressed into making that place his own personal Intellectual Home. As he began absorbing the knowledge that was given to him, he opened his mind to the many clubs, communities, literary contests, and opportunities that were available. Rahmani not only created a sense of belonging for himself but also gave himself the best ways to make his Intellectual Home, work for his career. He was “no longer pessimistic” and was engaging more in his academics.
