Lockdown learning: My TikTok obsession became an education

We’ve all developed lockdown obsessions. Be it baking the perfect banana bread or getting abs like Chloe Ting, we’re all finding ways to pass the time until Boris gives us the all clear and the roaring (20)20s can finally begin.

What’s been my Covid-fuelled obsession, I hear you ask? TikTok.

Before lockdown, I ridiculed my friends for using TikTok. I saw it as an app for kids and nothing about it appealed to me. However, spending lockdown in my rural hometown came as a big shock after going to university in Cardiff, so in April, when the most exciting part of my day involved walking to the GP, I did a complete U-turn and installed the app.

“My feed quickly became a place of education, not just entertainment”

Everybody talks about TikTok having different ‘sides’. Some find themselves on ‘alt TikTok’, some are on the ‘beans’ side of TikTok, and god forbid you end up on ‘straight TikTok’, hey. I initially used the app to escape from the dull reality of lockdown, but my ‘for you page’ soon filled up with empowering and inspiring creators

From ‘Black Lives Matter’ activists to autism awareness videos, and from body positivity threads to indigenous campaigners, my feed quickly became a place of education, not just entertainment.

Here are a few things I’ve learnt from scrolling through TikTok:

Did you know that many young girls often go undiagnosed with autism? Or that people with autism have a different physical brain structure to neurotypicals? And did you know that the ‘low-functioning’ and ‘high-functioning’ labels are damaging to the autistic community? @paigelayle provides an incredible resource for people looking to learn about autism straight from somebody with a diagnosis.

“Thanks to my lockdown obsession, I’m feeling more educated and enlightened than ever before”

Or perhaps you’re interested in sustainable living? @acteevism is an account run by a woman called Megan McSherry who educates her followers on unsustainable practices in the fashion industry and teaches them how to upcycle old clothes. If you’re trying to sew a lettuce hem or want to know how to spot greenwashing, check her out!

Or did you want to learn more about indigenous communities? Did you know that there are only approximately 1,000 native Hawaiian speakers in the world today, and that the ethnic Hawaiian population is decreasing? @melemaikalanimakalapua uses TikTok to teach people about Hawaiian history and culture.

From watching Flo fit into her jeans to hearing about how statistics are manipulated to discredit the ‘BLM’ movement, TikTok has enabled me to learn so much. Thanks to my lockdown obsession, I’m feeling more educated and enlightened than ever before. Every day I’m challenging my preconceived notions, learning about real world issues, and am becoming more and more open-minded.

TikTok has empowered me. Has your lockdown hobby done the same?

 

Charlotte King

Featured image courtesy of Kon Karampelas via Unsplash.