So I Started Using TikTok

The title speaks for itself.

Ever since the New Year, I’ve been leaning into an attitude of “Why the hell not?” Not throwing caution to the wind, mind you, but being perhaps more productively impulsive. No more drawn out plans. No more waiting for ducks to be in a row. From somewhere deep within me there has bubbled a sense of urgency.

So I downloaded Tiktok. Why Tiktok? Social media experts have preached for over a year that it’s the single best platform for reaching a new audience. Why find an audience? Last year I self-published an illustrated book of poetry (Amazon link in the header.) Why did I publish my poetry? Because a sense of urgency is bubbling. Why the urgency? Maybe it’s that big 3-0 creeping up like It Follows, stalking with the sureness of mortality. Maybe quitting the service industry last year was simply *that* motivating.

Rambling aside. As a time investment, Tiktok may pay off. Growth is radical and unpredictable for everyone. Some pages gain followers slowly over many months while others go viral within the first few videos. It’s yet uncertain if my page will split the difference. My growth in the first two months has been slow but steady and continuous, followed by a sudden string of semi-viral videos in the past week and half that have launched my follower count from 300 to almost 1100, meaning it will soon overtake Twitter as my most subscribed social media.

I’m fishing for a varied range of engagement, simultaneously broad and specific. I post videos about writing, about movies, about being progressive, being a Christian and being a progressive Christian, about hot sauce, and, most popular of all, about geeky nostalgia. It’s yet to be seen if this variation is my page’s strength or primary weakness, but whichever it is, it’s inherent to me and inescapable; so far, my followers embrace it.

I am happy to be experiencing a season of impulse. I worked in the service industry for eight years. It drained me and dulled me and functioned as a place for me to hide from my failings and my revelations. But it served two great purposes: I got to know myself and to change without the pressure of success & I got to concentrate on my fiance’s accomplishments and education as she finished school. I value that. But I would not value returning. And today I value… trying something new.

Tiktok is now a tool I intend to use, a field to cultivate and harvest toward the nourishment of other goals. My goals this year include finishing a screenplay, publishing another book, traveling more after the second round of vaccination, and doing more film work. These goals can provide Tiktok content as much as Tiktok can facilitate some of these goals. After all, what is a book without readers?

Thank you for joining me on this little reflection, and check out the link to my Tiktok page, if you’re so inclined.