If you have zero idea what Tik Tok is, don’t worry – you are not alone. The short of it is that Tik Tok is a short form, highly addictive, video app where (mostly) teenagers and young adults record themselves lip syncing and creating videos to audio clips with the ultimate goal of “going viral”. It’s pretty much a new version of Vine. But I can assure you my friend, it’s so much more than that. For me, it’s just another way to have fun with, and make fun of, my bullet journal obsession.
If you have been following me on any of the social medias, you know that I like to have fun and be funny. I love music, making jokes, designing layouts in my bujo, and sometimes record and edit a YouTube video. Recently I have been doing a lot less Youtube videos, mostly out of not having enough time. I still love video and video content, but I wanted to find a way to have more fun with it… and enter Tik Tok.
I knew about Tik Tok back when it was called Music.ly. Some younger cousins were talking about it and I was super curious what the hype was all about. I downloaded it, watched some of these hilarious videos, and then I was done with it. At that point, the app wasn’t something that I was really interested in doing for myself (non-bullet journal Mark). A few months ago I was thinking about what my next venture with my bullet journal and social media was going to be. I have been really proud of my Instagram following. Hitting 10K (now 11K) was a humongous milestone for me. I kicked up this website a few months back as a way to connect with more people beyond Instagram. My Youtube career has been hit and miss. Honestly, I thought it was going to be easy to just record some stuff and get it up there – but because I like the process and quality – it takes me a really long time to record, edit, and post. I also do it all using my phone, so that’s a thing.
So I needed a new outlet. Well, let’s be honest, a new hobby that I would get really hyped up about and experiment with for a while.
I downloaded Tik Tok again. I remembered how funny the people were when I first encountered it, like the cop lip syncing to Yung Gravy’s – Mr. clean. I mean, if the app is about music, having fun, and being silly – than I knew this was the space for me.
There are people of all ages on TikTok. Young influencers who are just spewing creativity. There are plenty of poop jokes and viral challenges. You will likely scroll past shirtless muscle guys and super fit hot girls too. It’s just such a mix-matched platform… it’s actually pretty impressive if you think about it. So for me, I knew that I had to really figure out what I was going to do with the app. I knew a few things going in and just continued to add my own rules.
- I knew this wasn’t going to be about me (Mark). My bullet journal was going to be the star.
- The goal: Find a way to incorporate the other viral video trends using my bullet journal as the star.
- Have fun, don’t get crazy and obsessed about it
Like most things in my life, when I get into something, I go all in. I get into a video game, I get addicted to it and want to play all the time. I get into a sport (golf) it’s all I think about and I go out and buy all the things. I wanted to try calligraphy, so I buy all the pens, inks, paper, and watch videos on videos. I’d like to think that I am just committed to learning new things – but really everything turns into an obsession. So I had to be self aware and just say… hey Mark, you are here to have fun, don’t go overboard.
So I do my research, watching like 100 hours of videos, and I plan my very first TikTok video. It’s a call and answer video demystifying Bullet Journaling.
I put it out there and think nothing of it. Next thing I know I’m blowing up. Some way, some how, over the next few days I go from zero followers to 2,000. Okay Mark, remember this is just fun, NBD. Oh lord, then come the comments.
“It’s not only for girls”
“Bullet journals are for everybody”
“Only for girls, OK BOOMER”
Not going to lie, the boomer one stung. HAHAA. I was like.. no no no, I said it’s NOT only for girls. Then I find myself defending my video to someone who I am pretty sure is only 16. “Turn on your volume” I say. Then the self doubt rolls in. I’m like, I can’t do this. They hate me here, why am I on this app that is totally out of my demographic? But I remind myself again – This is for fun, this is just for giggles. Ah, I feel better. So I go on to make a few more videos – basically riding on the coat tails of other “viral” videos.
Here is my personal favorite. It’s a “transformation” video using the song from Cinderella.
So, my friends, the fun, the music, the ridiculousness of this app is why I am on it. I feel like I can be all sorts of creative without the stress of recording and editing to get it up onto Youtube. It’s pretty self contained – and I can also export the videos to my Instagram channel for anyone who wants to view them there. So no pressure to download it – I promise you I will be bringing you this fun and silliness on other platforms. BUUUUUUT, if you want to take a trip into the wild side, let me know.
