![]() ![]() It seems to me, a middle millennial, that users who see themselves as part of #alttikok, #deeptiktok, or #elitetiktok share my complaint about the hyperredundancy of noises on TikTok. Like every generation before them, zoomers on TikTok have self-sorted into mainstream and alternative factions. But this raises the question: When you add your own contribution to a pile of same-sounding videos, does it really satisfy the call to create? The sound-swapping functionality that limits the app musically is what makes the barrier to entry lower than it was on any preceding app: The daunting challenge of the blank page is replaced by an endless list of challenges to try your hand at. In those moments, it crosses my mind that maybe TikTok simply isn’t for the consumer, but the creator. But just as frequently it plunges me into an aural brain-mush of mind-numbing sameness so bleak I wish I’d never sought it out in the first place. When I turn to TikTok to break up the monotony of my socially distanced life, it sometimes delivers with creative surprises and unbridled joy. A spin through TikTok is like going through your entire FM radio dial and hearing the same jingle in nine different ads, the same 15-second sections of three different hit songs playing on four stations apiece, and a smattering of varyingly successful adaptations of songs from years past. What is new is the consumer experience: I doubt that any medium has ever bombarded the listener with the same thing over and over like TikTok does. Whether that’s crafting a catchy earworm, covering one with as much skill and aplomb as you’ve got, or parodying it into something funny and new, the methods are probably as old as the recording industry itself. But the goal is, as ever, to create something that resonates with people. Dances might be a little flatter so your entire family can do them in a challenge hooks might be bassier pop hits perhaps a bit more gimmicky. The existence of TikTok hasn’t changed the act of musical creation all that much. But 15 seconds is still a default duration in the interface. Now recording can extend beyond 15 seconds, up to 60, or longer for videos imported from another app. The former is a relic of an old limitation: TikToks could previously only be recorded in 15-second increments, strung together for a maximum duration of 60. When you start creating a video in the app, TikTok suggests two durations: 15 seconds and 60. But the feature that differentiates TikTok from Vine, its chief predecessor in short-form video, is the ability to record a video for the visual component of your TikTok but easily swap out your own recorded sound with sound uploaded by any other user on the app. The visual element and sound can be recorded together and posted as is, like any old video you might take on your smartphone’s camera. ![]() A TikTok’s basic elements are video and sound, with an endless supply of effects available to apply to either. ![]() The design of TikTok has a lot to do with why you hear the same sounds over and over. ![]()
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