How TikTok Became The World’s Favorite App

The Journal.

The Wall Street Journal

News, Daily News, Business News

4.2 • 5.8K Ratings

🗓️ 4 November 2022

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In only five years, TikTok has gained millions of fans around the world and become a source of geopolitical tension between the U.S. and China. We spoke to people who witnessed the app’s meteoric rise firsthand: influencers, former workers, and a government official who is concerned about TikTok’s data practices. Further Listening -Why TikTok’s Under Investigation -Why Everyone is Mad At Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	One day in September 2020, Nathan Apodaka was driving to work at a potato warehouse in
0:11.2	Idaho when his truck broke down.
0:13.9	I was just driving and broke down.
0:15.4	I was like, okay, I'm not going to sit here and cry about it and call my mom.
0:19.0	Works right there.
0:20.0	You know, I could see it over the hill, you know, and everything like that.
0:22.8	It was right over the interstate.
0:24.8	Nathan realized he could still get to work by riding his skateboard.
0:28.7	And before he took off, he decided to film himself and post it on TikTok.
0:33.8	He opened the app and chose the song Dreams by Fleetwood Mac to play in the background.
0:42.0	As he rode his skateboard down a hill, he took several big swigs from a bottle of ocean
0:46.2	spray crayon raspberry juice and lip synced into the camera.
0:50.1	I didn't plan any of it.
0:51.7	It was just so insane and it was one take.
0:54.8	I was just going so fast.
0:56.2	I had like, think it was five or three minutes left to get to work.
0:59.6	I just hurried up what to work punched in before I lost my bonus.
1:03.5	You might remember this video because it went viral supercharged by TikTok's powerful
1:09.1	recommendation engine.
1:11.2	After that, everything went wild.
1:16.2	Nathan's TikTok got millions of views with celebrities and creators making their own
1:21.1	versions, including the CEO of Ocean Spray and Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac.
	...

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