I really didn’t think that I would write about TikTok when I signed up for journalism. But here I am. This is a handful of TikTok “challenges” I found. You’ll know why challenges are in quotations in a second. I will be skipping some due to school appropriateness concerns, or because I simply don’t want to look at some. 

Just so no one is confused, here’s what I’m doing. I’m looking at this sketchy BuzzFeed-ish website that has a list of the “most recent top 20 TikTok challenges” something along those lines, the link is here. And we are gonna look at and maybe (most likely) make fun of some TikTok “Challenges.” How many? I don’t know. 

Number 1: The Old Town Road Challenge 

We all know this song blew up back in 2019, so what could this challenge be? Maybe something with horses? Or something with a road? No. Put a flannel and a cowboy hat on and dance to Old Town Road. That’s it, that’s the challenge: make a TikTok. 

So far not off to a great start, but hopefully it gets better. 

Number 2: “Beautiful People Challenge” 

I don’t really understand this one that much, but as far as I can tell it’s just people showing off friends and family, using their grandparents for TikTok likes. It’s nothing new. 

The part that bugs me is that this is the simple description pulled straight from the article, “This is the type of TikTok challenge you can safely show off to your grandparents without any concerns.” You can “safely” show off “without any concerns.” What does any of this have to do with a challenge? 

Number 3: “School Bathroom Challenge” 

You might be thinking that there is no way the challenge is to make a TikTok in the school bathroom. It’s funny because that’s exactly what it is. And the worst thing is, this the closest we’ve got to even being a challenge. I know it isn’t challenging in the slightest, but some schools are very strict when it comes to phones on campus or using social media. And even then, bathrooms aren’t metal detected by entry or something crazy. So this is situational, but 98% of the time this isn’t even a challenge like the other two.

Number 4: “The Plank Challenge” 

For the last two challenges I will cover, get this, they are actually kinda hard to do. Basically, it’s a dance but while doing planks, so it’s not the hardest challenge but some people wouldn’t be able to do it. I don’t want to make it seem like these are good videos because it’s TikTok, but at least it isn’t just “film a TikTok and pretend it’s a challenge.” 

Number 5: “The Stand Up Challenges” 

This last challenge was challenging if you aren’t athletic, this one is impossible. Unless you are buff, or just big in stature, you ain’t doing this one. The premise is simple: lay down on your stomach, someone like a girlfriend or fellow TikTok companion stands on your back, and you proceed to stand up with them still on. This is actually a challenge like I could be able to do the plank challenge but if I tried this my spine would snap because I’m built like a twig. Now, it could be easier than it looks, but if anything, I’m pretty sure it’s harder than it looks. 

Congratulations article, 2 out of 20 “Challenges” are challenges. I didn’t cover much because there are just too many. But most of them can be summarized as not a challenge. And if you wanna know more specifically, it’s “do a dance”. 

TikTok is known for being disliked. I know I certainly do not like the mess that is TikTok. But let’s see other people’s opinions on TikTok and why.

I talked to three people, ranging from Agua Fria to not Agua Fria and that’s it.

First was AFHS junior Amarri Reclosado. I asked “What’s the first thing you think of when you hear TikTok challenges?” Amarri said that she thought of “crazy things because I see that TikTok sometimes does crazy things but I think it’s mostly just pranks and crazy.” Based on the experience of one article, I didn’t see anything crazy or relating to pranks. But I personally don’t think there’s anything crazy going on. 

Next is SEGA GENESIS, it’s in all caps because that’s just her name (it’s not actually her name but she wanted me to use this name). She’s a freshman at Agua Fria, I met her in Spanish class. She helps me out but don’t tell my Spanish teacher. SEGA on the other hand said, “probably something dumb, because any challenge someone does, even on YouTube is dumb.” Fair enough.

Mitchel Kilgore, a student of Ironwood High School, only needed to say two words to convey his emotions: “Stupid dumb.” And all I gotta say is that this man is spitting straight facts.