My God, who would’ve ever guessed? I have a TikTok account, and I love it! Since I’ve started two weeks ago I’ve gotten at least seven middle-aged women friends of mine to get on, as this demographic and older are flocking to this funky platform in droves. Why? Because, well, we can be ourselves because at our age, we just don’t give a damn about what people think!
I had tried TikTok when it first came out, curious as to why Trump wanted to ban the Chinese-owned app. Of all Trump’s nutty ideas, banning TikTok as a national security threat! LOL!
I downloaded it, but immediately deleted it because of its noisy, inane childish content blasting through my phone. I had successfully weened myself off social media this past year thanks to Covid, as it was sucking my time and sanity. I also thought kids’ attention spans now watered down to 15-second clips would surely be the end of humanity. But…..
I wanted to share more of my travel photos and content, but I am an involuntary Luddite, unable to learn technology and can barely turn on a TV. Tech to me is all Technoshima. Yet, I was determined to figure out YouTube to finally post more of my gabillion photos and films from my travels and more.
But after visiting my son in Gainesville, his girlfriend said to do TikTok. Well, that was all it took. It was important to have her 18-year-old tutelage to get 54-year-old me started. I’m still learning.
The best thing about it is since I am such a technophobe, I can handle the 15 seconds of TikTok and its easy editing and filmmaking process. Plus it’s a fresh start, as I had stumbled along over the years with Facebook, then Instagram and Twitter and it’s just a mess. Hey, this social media stuff came along when I was 40, and kept changing and growing!
But TikTok is a fresh start! Boom, just get in and hit the ground running. It’s so remarkable how the world changes. And media leads that change! It boggles the mind. But I’ve decided at last, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em!
I’m posting my natural self: random and eclectic whatnot. Since #stopAsianhate is trending, I’ve been posting a lot about Japan, studying Japanese in my car, my haiku, visits to the Asian food store for a mochi fix, thrift store finds and fashion finds abroad.
There’s even me dancing and my first ever lip synch! Random and eclectic. That’s me! I will be posting of my travels in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia and whatever else pops up in my wild mind! It’s cute too, because young kids comment stuff like, “Can you please be my mom? Will you adopt me?” LOL!
C YA on TikTok! And of course if you don’t want to be on TikTok, It automatically share to Instagram. I post everything of mine on TikTok in my “story.” That was another thing I never used or understood. It was just waiting around for the right moment!
Sydney In Osaka 