Of TikTok and The Waya Waya Dance

Do you know where the danger is…

TikTok could easily be one of the hottest and fastest growing social media platforms. In just 5 years its grown from being short video sharing trend, to closing 2021 leading Google as the most visited internet site according to Cloudflare.

I wont pretend I understand it, I don’t even have the app on my phone, but still TikTok trends locate me. TikTok videos have a distinct watermark you cant miss them. What I have found most interesting about TikTok is its seemingly endless range, you name it, someone proably has a TikTok about and then some, from silly dances to life coaches.

TikTok is like the new Google or Youtube Tutorials, people will even be quoting stats and facts –(although a large number of those seem rather made up or lack solid research—someone just mentions that research shows that 90% of all stats are nonsense—and people just accept, thats where the danger is)

According to USA deomgraphics the largest group of  TikTok users is in the 13-28 band and generation Z. Kind of explains some of the trends that go viral, makes me feel rather old, not to say there arent people of all ages having the time of their life on TikTok, so go for it.

And on that viral trend, I have always marveled at how TikTok skits can suddenly propel a song to top charts or push it out of a graveyard of forgotten hits, they can also exponentially hype up a song that when you find the song in the clip its not as satisfactory an experience… but sometimes, sometimes.. it works.

The Waya Waya Challenge

 The Waya Waya Challenge has been a global trend which appears to have started in Asia with people doing Tai Chi zombiesque dance routine vaguely reminiscent of the iconic zombie choreography from Michael Jackson’s Thriller video.

The song is quite catchy and I have even found myself just randomly doing the dance, pity I don’t have TikTok might have recorded myself for the interwebs. The most fascinating thing is how the song by Master KG is from 4 years ago and out of the blue the track has started to trend on YouTube.

The South African artist Kgaogelo Moagi who goes by the stage name, Master KG is no stranger to being a viral sensation, his song Jerusalema spawned quite the global movement during lockdown when it just ballooned into a symbol for humanity, with videos of people all over the world dancing along. It also generated some lawsuits too as, the artist claimed the were corporates and organisations who had used the song in advertorials without permission or consultation… Not sure how that got resolved but it was quite the stark reminder about not just using music without giving artists their dues… but that’s a story for another day.

What are your got to social media platforms, if any? Have you participated in any internet video challenges?

I am on most platforms but my addiction is with Twitter: @Beatonm5

~B