Eddie B: What shocks me about TikTok users

With TikTok users spending an average of 95 minutes a day on the app, Edwina Bartholomew questions today's youth and asks “are we going to hell in a handbasket?”

What did you want to be when you grew up? I briefly wanted to be a botanist because I once grew an apple plant from a seed in a dodgy Ikea greenhouse. When it died shortly afterwards, my interest waned.

Now, if you’re a kid deciding on your future career path, it seems TikTok influencer is the way to go.

More than half of Gen Z Australians, kids between 10 and 25, say they would leave their school or job to become a social media sensation.

That makes me feel very O-L-D. I can actually feel the wrinkles deepening on my forehead just thinking about it.

Is this how my Mum felt before joining Facebook, or what Dad experienced when DVDs took over VHS?

Edwina Bartholomew is shocked to discover TikTok uses spend an average of 95 minutes a day on the social media platform. Source: Supplied

It’s that sinking sensation when you realise a whole generation has moved on to new technology and you have absolutely no idea how it works.

The very fact I had to Google “current TikTok trends” to inform this article shows I am well out of the loop.

By the time my kids are of phone age, I will inevitably be receiving tutorials from them on whatever comes next after Facebook and Instagram.

Because, in breaking news, those platforms are apparently now dead, too. Likes and reels are kaput, gone. Now I think of it, their demise probably started about the same time my Mum joined.

According to research underpinning The Influence Index, released by theoz.com.au, TikTok accounts for 62 per cent of the total audience of the top 50 influencers in Australia. They had a total of 7.6 billion likes on TikTok compared to a “measly” 4.45 million engagements on Instagram.

TikTok users spend an average of 95 minutes a day on the app, compared to half that for Insta users.

Ninety-five minutes a day.

I’m going to sound geriatric again but are we going to hell in a handbasket here? What is going on with the youth of today?

Will I have to talk my daughter down from pursuing an Tik Tok career in years to come?

Hopefully the world will right itself before she turns 10.

We will go from watching cat videos to actually interacting with our pets, climbing mountains in solitude instead of documenting every step, enjoying the little moments of parenthood without sticking a camera in our kids’ faces.

Until then, you’ll find me on Instagram looking at the latest TikTok trend, because that’s what Millennials do.

Originally published as Eddie B: What shocks me about TikTok users