Not to be controversial, but TikTok is hilarious. Someone had to say it, and I’m glad it was me because I spend several hours a day on that app and feel like I owe it something. TikTok has a bad rap; once upon a time, I hated it, too. But now I’ve seen the light and am getting impatient because some of ya’ll are elitist and annoying. I miss Vine, too! I also think Vine was better and I’ll watch those beautiful compilations with my children one day—but TikTok? It’s a new kind of iconic and I so desperately want you all to be in on it. 

Most of you have gotten to the acceptance stage and agree that TikTok is an incredible new platform with decent memes and consistent enough content. But there’s a few of you that are very strong-willed and insist on keeping a stubborn stick up your ass, denying yourself the joy that awaits somewhere on a For You page. 

This isn’t really a big deal, and even I don’t know why I’m writing an article about it. But I genuinely love TikTok so much that I felt entitled to write a few hundred words for maybe six people and the lovely copy editors to read. 

I’ll be honest when I say that I may not be the best person to advocate for TikTok, because my For You Page is only lesbians and Star Wars memes. Granted, that’s how I like it. But a reason I love TikTok so much is that it caters to the viewer, creating  accurate idiosyncratic feeds for each person and insists on crafting a community while it does so. TikTok is interactive and dependent on communication throughout the app. Everyone talks to each other and the duet feature means that you find more creators with more contact you love. Vine didn’t do that, it showed you top trending. 

If you don’t want to see Republican hick culture (that’s their tag, I’m not being rude), then you’re not going to see it! Don’t like dancing videos? They’re not there! Want to watch a bunch of pretty girls from Idaho smile at you through a camera! Ho, boy, there’s a whole country of them (see #gayngels, #gaybies, #sweaterweather; you will not be bored)!

I’m genuinely frustrated by people who shit on this platform. What good is it? What are you trying to prove? TikTok has already taken over Instagram, and the memes are only getting better—I don’t understand the reproach to it. It’s unifying and it’s enjoyable, universal and easy. The fact that it was birthed from Musical.ly makes my soul wither a little bit, but I respect a good brand re-design and am happy to say that TikTok’s come a long way and actually succeeds in promoting a genuinely positive environment for kids to dick around in. TikTok has something for literally everyone and maintains a decent algorithm to make sure you aren’t introduced to content you reproach while still creating a space for everyone. 

So stop being annoying. Download the app. I want #SLUser trending by Friday.