Video-sharing platform TikTok may “skew younger,” according to influencer marketing firm CEO Ricky Ray Butler, but that hasn’t stopped family members of all ages from enjoying the app while staying home due to social distancing measures.
Families are creating choreographed dance videos and sharing them, sometimes gaining millions of views, according to CNN.
"When we are faced with really dark times, we turn to culture to cope or find meaning or to laugh and connect. ... This technology [TikTok] is supporting a family's ability to work together, and that's fun, but it also acts as a catalyst for just spending time together." — Dr. Jenny Radesky, developmental behavioral pediatrician
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Robert Jimison has been quarantining with family in Atlanta. He told CNN that his mom wanted to try TikTok after seeing celebrities post videos of trending dances with their families.
Their quality time spent as a family was evident in the finished product, a #HitEveryBeat challenge to a remix of “Can’t Touch This.”
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Jennifer Lopez’s viral family dance on TikTok has undoubtedly inspired many families to copy the idea in their own boredom-plagued households.
“When the whole fam agrees on a TikTok🥰,” she captioned the video, a dance to “Something New” by Wiz Khalifa that has 7.5 million likes and counting.
Ken Schwartz, quarantined with wife and stepson twins Ian and Ben Schoenfield, also joined the intergenerational TikTok trend.
In an interview with CNN, Schwartz shared that the family has tried everything from game nights to binge-watching to movie-making to get in some family time.
“We were so bad at acting, we tried to do a dance video instead,” Schwartz said.
He and his sons produced a TikTok of the three of them dancing to Doja Cat’s “Say So.”
“We definitely have our time apart,” Schwartz said. “But, yes, we are also finding ways to be creative and be together.”
