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TikTok logo as displayed on the screen of an iPhone on April 13, 2020. Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP ... [+] via Getty Images

By now you have read about or even tried TikTok, the video sharing service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. The service allows anyone to create and post short videos lasting 15 to 60 seconds. At first glance, it seems frivolous with most videos featuring comedy skits, lip-sync songs, dance performances, fun challenges, weird pranks, and scantily clad women. But it has quickly evolved as an older population has joined and broadened the content into a spectrum of humanity and self-expression. That has helped fuel its explosive growth to 2 billion downloads and over 800 million active monthly users who open the app 8 times a day, totaling 52 minutes per day, across 154 countries and 75 languages.

While celebrities found it, it is the everyday people and their pent-up creative inspiration that makes it astonishing, reflecting TikToks tagline of Real People. Real Videos. Whereas most other social networking sites have long-form videos, TikToks short-form videos allow users to quickly swipe those that are of little interest, allowing users to fly through dozens of them in a very short time. The algorithm remembers what you like and offers more.

This column is a must-try sampler for the general population and marketers who have only read about TikTok, as well as for those who tried it earlier and were only exposed to superficial content. I collected these examples your samples after only a couple of hours on the site. The more you sample, the more you will understand TikToks massive appeal.

TikTok is known for displaying amazing individual talents, to let the world see and hear what they have to offer, whether that be instrumental (by Kyle), dance (by Melissa), impersonations (by Amber), or character creation such as Malady the Clown (by Angel). Go aheadpick a link or two or sample them all.

Society's struggles are on full display in TikTok, reflected in the response to the tragic death of George Floyd (by Brianna), LGBTQ awareness (by Marc), and tributes to healthcare workers (by officialschoolnurse) who are on the frontlines of COVID-19. There are also playful, quick views on our own life stages (by Lele).

Astonishing creativity is the hallmark of TikTok and it comes in many forms. There are those who show their creativity on canvas (by graffituvandals), in uncommon food preparation (by Yanng), and in amazing body paint (by fx_freak).

Uncommon bravery is ever-present on TikTok you just have to look. It is demonstrated by those who face physical and mental struggles with an immensely positive attitude as they battle cancer (by Megan), muscle disease (by Kelbarendt), amputation (by Alyssa), or a lifelong stutter (by Caitlyn). These are all must-views!

Alter egos are plentiful, and TikTok allows its users to express their alternative selves. Sometimes this means a fun magical transformation to Harley Quinn (by Lauren) or to Spider-Girl (by Jianine).

You can find calm in these tumultuous times with a meditation guide (by Vishuddha), with someone who will pray with you (by Cristina), or with a physician who will help you overcome lifes everyday challenges like menstrual cramps (by Dr. Tanouye).

We see innovation in all forms including art (by Noah), food (by Kate), household technology (by Danielle), and playtime (by Mackenzie).

TikTok also allows us to see nature at its finest such as a bald eagle with her chicks (by explore.org), the birth of a baby beluga whale (by the Georgia Aquarium), or the affection of a familys pet fox (by Mikayla).

TikTok also has an abundance of how-to videos to make us better at a wide range of endeavors, whether you want to make a killer steak (by Sonny), eat healthier meals (by Hayley), or enhance your gardening approach (by Armen).

We can see our collective, human kindness in pets we save from shelters (by nic_and_the_dogs) and those we nurse back to health (by Yu).

And as you might expect, you can find fans with similar interests, whether you are a Harry Potter enthusiast (by K3 Sisters) or a fan of a popular celebrity like Ryan Reynolds (by Ryan).

I intentionally did not feature the top TikTok personalities because I wanted to provide a more mainstream view. Those with the most followers on TikTok are Charli D Amelio with about 60 million followers and Loren Gray with about 44 million followers. They have that special IT. Beyond their typical lip-sync and dance videos, both recently spoke in support of Black Lives Matter, showing that they use their voices on important issues. You can find other popular TikTok personalities in this link. But TikTok fame has its limits as revealed in this humorous video (by Angel).

This sampler is still a fraction of the themes that exist on TikTok, which are as varied and as individual as the people who upload videos.

And as with all social media, TikTok is not without concerns and controversies related to privacy, inappropriate material, cyberbullying, hate speech, and users being injured when filming extreme stunts in an effort to become TikTok famous. TikTok also raises national security concerns because the service may share its user data with government officials in its home country of China.

No matter how you look at it, TikTok is a juggernaut. The service generated $176.9 million in revenue in 2019. Yet only about 4% of U.S. social media marketers are using TikTok, suggesting that its future potential is massive. A modest 10 fold increase puts revenues into the billions of dollars.

Perhaps thats because TikTok gives us an opportunity to witness and partake in our collective humanity and self-expression.

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TikTok Is Pure Self-Expression. This Is Your Must-Try Sampler. - Forbes