Durant Student Ricky Lin Becomes TikTok Famous
Durant High School Junior Ricky Lin become TikTok famous over quarantine
January 28, 2021
First created in 2016 by Chinese company ByteDance, TikTok has become one of the most downloaded social media platforms in the United States with over a hundred million downloads.
One of the most notable qualities of TikTok is its ability for anyone to become famous through the usage of the “For You” page, an algorithm designed to give its viewer catered videos based on their past behaviors on the app.
Ricky Lin, a junior at Durant High School, first joined TikTok as a joke in 2019 to pass the time. Despite occasionally uploading videos in school last year, Lin saw heavy traffic on his account during quarantine. “It was weird at first because people would recognize me more often online, but I enjoy the interaction since everyone I have met are all culturally diverse and of different backgrounds” — Ricky Lin
“It was weird at first because people would recognize me more often online, but I enjoy the interaction since everyone I have met are all culturally diverse and of different backgrounds,” Lin said.
When he first joined, Lin started recreating videos on his For You page as inspiration. As he began to post more, Lin soon saw his follower and viewer rates increase.
“I like to try different videos to reach out to a broader audience,” Lin said. “I would not say I have a specific type of video, more so, of what I see on my For You page.”
Now posting almost daily, Lin has amassed fifty thousand followers with over a million likes on his platform as of January 2021.
Along with just gaining new followers, Lin has had the chance to meet new people and friends worldwide.
“[My platform] lets me meet more people throughout the world and new friends as well,” Lin said. “I’ve met a lot of people from all over the states, mainly from California and New York.”
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Because of his following, Lin has also been given the opportunity to work with various clothing brands and companies, such as The Coldest Water Bottle. In the future, he would like to continue working with more clothing companies and other brands.
“As of right now, it [TikTok] is just something I do in my free time, but you never know [what might happen],” Lin said.
