Still just cannot get on-board with vertical video
Vertical video trumped traditional video ages ago in terms of engagement. In 2025, stats suggest itโs 2.5 times as popular as its predecessor.
I remember the transition about half-a-decade back. Snapchat randomly had a big resurgence and ByteDance was absorbed into the monster that is TikTok.
At the time I felt a natural aversion to vertical video becoming mainstream, and not just because its primary type of content involved lip syncing or dancing, or dancing while lip syncing.
Cut to the present day and the content buffet has expanded to include doorbell cam footage of builders falling off ladders, podcast snippets, skits, movie trailers, and everything in-between. One bloke got banned for shagging different types of pasta a couple years ago.
The clever algorithms of Reels and TikTok note what people engage with or linger on, and spam an infinitely updating library of stuff from the same wheelhouse. Whatโs not to like then?
In my opinion, exactly that. While I donโt have any massive qualms with short-form content as a medium, itโs the premise of endlessly scrolling and consuming at such a rapid pace with no beginning or end. Itโs the sheer aimlessness.
Iโm as guilty as anyone for getting lost in YouTube rabbit holes, but thereโs a discernible starting point when you load the app up and search something specific.
In the same vein, if youโre scrolling Twitter, youโre looking for live updates on things or people you follow. Generally, youโll hit a wall fairly quickly and have to hop off before updates accumulate again.
On TikTok, meanwhile, the premise of scrolling endlessly with no goal other than โentertain meโ still feels as dystopic as when vertical video sprung to life in 2018-ish. I canโt wrap my head anyone finding the experience comforting, but millions do.
Donโt get me wrong, Iโm in a handful of group chats where dumb reels circulate and on occasion I may indulge for a few minutes, but thatโs my limit. I refuse to download TikTok, no matter how many links people โ looking at you, Dad โ drop in my WhatsApp.
Itโs a tale as old as time that older generations will take an innate dislike to the hobbies of their youngers, but I witnessed first-hand the mainstream explosion of TikTok. I should, theoretically, be all over it.
On the contrary, I canโt bear to be in the same room as someone using the app. The incessant repetition of AI soundbites, TV samples, or song segmentsโฆ excitable vox pops, hysterical out-of-context laughter, surface level observations from clout chasersโฆ fear mongering or conspiracies โ complete with eerie choir music โ streamers screaming, Lily Phillips chatting crud. Itโs all too much.
Itโs like death by a thousand cuts. A wall of noise comprised of second-long, abrasive sounds and half-fleshed scenarios habitually skipped over and replaced by another trimmed moment at its fever pitch. I can almost feel my neck glands going up.
Iโm fully aware Iโm in the minority and the weird one, but I canโt deny the physical repulsion I have to these apps. Using them organically is arguably the most brain-rotting endeavour Iโve witnessed in my 30 years on Earth, and Iโd sooner inhale second-hand smoke than sit alongside someone using them without headphones.
My daughter categorically will NOT have TikTok when she grows up. Thereโs no genuine creativity to be gleaned or inflaming of the imagination, itโs just dopamine and zombification. Charlie Brooker has his work cut out to make Black Mirror season 7 shocking.
Thatโs my 2 pence, anyway โ about 5 years too late. No one asked. Iโll stop complaining and sound off now.
PS: Donโt forget to check out Thredโs daily uploads on TikTok. Algorithmโฆ algorithmโฆ ALGORITHM!