Tik Tok: The Real Pandemic

By Peyton Pownall (’22) and Rubi Katz (’22)

The virus COVID-19 has infected the lives of everyone worldwide; however, it’s really just all one big distraction to cover up the true pandemic: the Tik Tok virus.

The first cases of COVID can be traced back to November of 2019, supposedly taking over the world in March 2020. Meanwhile, Tik Tok has been truly dominating our lives for over a year. Formerly known as the 2014 sensation Musically, Tik Tok resurfaced in 2016, and the Tik Tok virus shortly surfaced and began to spread around the world rapidly. While it took a few years for the virus to catch on, as soon as people started to use the app, verified creators became prime examples of extreme cases. Hastily, the Tik Tok virus became highly contagious. Soon everywhere you looked, people were dancing spastically, and they were glued to the app. This virus is worldwide, as it is presently infecting 155 countries. The complexity of this virus is evident as it has adapted to 75 different languages.

To date, only 37.7 million people have been infected with the Coronavirus, whereas the Tik Tok virus is sweeping the nation with 800 million active cases. Understandably, many people are afraid of COVID, but the real thing they should be worried about is the Tik Tok virus. Many people have fallen victim to the addiction of the app and are unrecoverable. With high screen times and thousands of 60-second videos sitting in their drafts, people are infected with the virus without even knowing it. Unfortunately, everyone is exposed to this. Not having the app doesn’t completely save you as Tik Tok is all some people can think or talk about. The most severe cases feature individuals who eat, sleep, and breathe Tik Tok. Common symptoms of this virus include: doing the Renegade at any given time, constant woahing out of nowhere, and unconsciously humming to Savage or Say So.

No one is immune to the infection of the Tik Tok virus. Even the strongest humans in the world, the students at West Point Grey Academy, have been infected. Statistics show that WPGA is home to a significant number of active cases. 44 out of 75 people are actively using the app. Even worse, 48% of people have been fooled and tricked into thinking that they love this detrimental virus. This is worsened by the 60% of students contributing to the spread by making videos on it. Our school, like any other, has been dramatically affected by this. Most students claim to have spent over three hours immersing themselves in the virus and polluting their brains on the app per day. Although, one student, a rare find, seems aware of the danger of the virus as they stated: “Tik Tok is a cancer to society.”

Avid Tik Tok user Kris Vogel, an ordinary grade eleven student, is a perfect example of the virus’s negative effects. Kris has managed to reach what many people call “the end of Tik Tok:” he describes this as the dark despair when there are no more Tik Toks left to watch on his FYP. Kris can be spotted anywhere contaminating himself and those around him by the virus. By watching Tik Toks on full volume and liking every single one, which leads to him giving out a little chuckle. He was even too much to handle for the virus itself, as he spent a whole 12 hours in one day watching Tik Tok and was banned from liking videos on multiple occasions. During his interview, with all the talk of Tik Tok, the virus took over him again, and he quickly became distracted by his phone and was uncontrollably watching Tik Toks. 

We are very hopeful of a vaccine to cure the Coronavirus; however, there is no cure yet to be found for the infamous Tik Tok virus. With over 90 million followers, the only one who can be held responsible for ending this unstoppable pandemic is Charli D’Amelio.