Where in the World Is TikTok?

If you asked me to name one app that truly feels global, I’d say TikTok without even thinking. I use TikTok literally every single day, sometimes to laugh, sometimes to learn, and sometimes just to scroll without realizing how much time has passed. But I’ve been wondering lately: where in the world is TikTok? The app looks the same no matter where you open it, but what happens inside is very different.

History

The story of TikTok begins in China, where it was first called “Douyin” when it came out in 2016. A year later, ByteDance, the company that owns it, released an international version called TikTok, and things went crazy. It wasn’t like Instagram or YouTube, which took a long time to grow. TikTok spread like a wave around the world because it had an endless scroll and short, catchy videos. I honestly can’t remember how it appeared in my life but somehow it was just there.

By 2020, TikTok was available in more than 150 countries and was the most downloaded app in the world. It’s crazy how it changed a little bit in each place. It became a place for comedy, lifestyle, and activism in the U.S. It was more about fashion, aesthetics, and memes in Europe. The app basically adapts like a chameleon (always fitting the culture it enters).

Algorithm

The reason TikTok travels so easily is its algorithm. It doesn’t care who you follow, only what you engage with. It picks things up quickly, and it learns about you. But this also means that each country and each user has their own unique “TikTok reality.”

When I look at my feed in the Netherlands, I see videos about life as a student in Europe, architecture, and maybe a few random memes. But my friends from Turkey usually sends me videos about Turkish jokes or politics, and other things that don’t show up on my feed. We’re all using the same app, but it feels like we’re not in the same world.

TikTok is interesting because it is both global and very local at the same time. It brings people together across borders through sounds and visuals, but it also builds invisible walls with algorithms that decide what we see and what we don’t.

Global Trends

Trends spread faster than ever before, which is another reason TikTok seems to be “everywhere.” In just a few days, a dance or a sound clip can switch between different countries. I’ve seen the same sound used by creators from completely different cultures.

TikTok doesn’t just spread culture, it also mixes it up. People all over the world can see, copy, and change local foods, customs, and traditions that have gone viral. TikTok is like a global stage that includes everyone, no matter where they live or what language they speak.

But when I look through my feed, I sometimes notice that the lighting, poses, and even facial expressions are the same for people from all around the world. It seems like TikTok is teaching us how to act online, how to look interesting, and how to become seen.

The Limits

Of course, TikTok isn’t literally everywhere. Some countries, like India, have banned it. U.S, on the other hand have debated doing the same as well. In some regions, it’s censored, so even though it seems like there’s no limit, TikTok is still shaped by politics and power. It made me realize that global media isn’t actually free or fair as it seems to be. Something that goes viral in a place might never show up in the other.

My TikTok World

I’ve learnt many things from TikTok like how to cook, new artists and even random psychological facts. But TikTok also made me believe in such things too quickly or made me compare my life to others a saw from the videos I watched. It’s both amazing and exhausting at the same time. TikTok brings us together through creativity, but it also makes it harder for us to pay attention. We now expect things to be new all the time, literally every few seconds.