On almost every teenager’s phone around the world lies the newest form of social media: TikTok.

TikTok is a social media app for creating and sharing short videos and sketches. To many, it seems like TikTok just popped up out of nowhere. However, TikTok has been around for a few years, previously known as Musical.ly. A Chinese tech company acquired the app in early 2018 and redesigned it to become the popular app we have today. With over 500 million active users worldwide, TikTok is quickly taking over the world of social media.

TikTok has redefined viral videos. What used to be a random chance that a clip might go viral, teens on TikTok are purposely searching for popularity and views on their videos. With the app being so popular and accessible it is easier than ever for users to gain popularity.

So the question is, what makes TikTok so great that millions of people have downloaded it? The short 10-60 second videos have captured the attention of many teens around the globe. When opening the app, the main page is never ending and users can keep scrolling until their fingers fall off. On the app users can use songs and sounds from other videos to make their own, which allows trends to spread like wildfire. Teens love to hop on trends, and TikTok makes this easier than ever before with just the click of a button.

Gaining fame on TikTok has been taken to a whole new level. For example, the song “Old Town Road” by rapper Lil Nas X was used in a TikTok video and steadily gained popularity on the app. Eventually the song went so viral on TikTok that record labels began to take notice. “Old Town Road” shot up to the top of the Billboard Top 100 and became one of the longest running number one hits ever. TikTok’s influence in our lives is becoming so prominent, and many don’t even know it yet.

For many older users, TikTok has become the new age Vine. Similar to TikTok, Vine was a video sharing app that had millions of users. After its downfall, Vine was shut down in early 2017. However, in its prime it once held the popularity that TikTok holds now.

TikTok is on the rise. It even has more monthly users than Twitter and Snapchat. With so much popularity we are left with one question: will TikTok maintain its popularity, or will it have a downfall like many other social media platforms?