5 Cool Reasons for Parents to Learn to Love TikTok

If you pay any attention at all to the news, you've heard about TikTok. There are plenty of news articles that talk about the political uproar that surrounded the platform in 2020, but that's not what we're here to talk about today. If you have a GenZ tween or teen, you can safely bet that they're aware of TikTok at the very least. According to research from Statista, 7 in 10 U.S. teens use TikTok at least once a month.

What the heck is TikTok?

But TikTok isn't just for kids—it has some great benefits for parents, too! But before I talk more about them, let's start at the beginning. What the heck is TikTok?

Nearly two years ago, when my now 15-year-old daughter began using this popular app, I didn't have a clue what it was. I observed her recording crazy dance moves on her smartphone while lipsyncing to hip-hop songs. I asked her what she was doing, and she cheerfully replied, "TikToking!"

Huh?

As someone who primarily thrives in the world of Facebook, I had no idea that TikTok was the hottest new social media platform. I soon learned that TikTok (originally called musical.ly) is a social network for sharing user-generated videos. And just like what I experienced with my daughter, a lot of those videos are of people lip-syncing or dancing to popular songs.

CommonSenseMedia.org's article, the Parents' Ultimate Guide to TikTok, is an incredible resource. It answers practically any question you might have about this hot social media app. The article explained the gist of TikTok like this:

TikTok users sign up with a phone number, an email address, or a third-party account such as Facebook and Instagram. Once logged in, you can search popular creators, categories (comedy, animals, sports), and hashtags to find videos. Or you can use your phone contacts or social media followers to find friends already on the app. Many kids on TikTok like to create videos, but plenty of people don't post themselves—they use the app to find and follow content creators.

Once I understood this app, I was eager to check it out for myself. Within a few days, I realized what all the hype was about. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed TikTok! It was not only entertaining, but I also found I was learning on it as well. Here are five fun and practical ways TikTok can liven up your parenting world. 

5 reasons for parents to use TikTok

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