Until December of 2020 I had not given TikTok two minutes thought outside a cursory glance to the news stories it was the subject of. Then arrived an issue of McKinley Valentine’s newsletter The Whippet in my inbox with this delightful intro:

I suspect the majority of readers will be like me, in that for TikTok they were like “nup, I’ve reached my limit of new social media things I can be bothered understanding. The kids can have TikTok for themselves.”
But I’m a new convert and I love it so I’m gonna tell you what the deal is with TikTok.

Her arguments for TikTok compelled me to download the app. Like Deb Perelman, I can say “it’s become my favourite time suck”. There is so much I enjoy! Recipes, mountain skiing, dancing, sea shanties, dog training, mini adventures, and on and on… I enjoyed discovering TikTok so much that I convinced my siblings to join, just so I could send them funny videos. I enjoy TikTok so much that in this season of repentance, I’ve made a sacrifice of it and content myself with the inferior Instagram.

If we were friends, I’d give McKinley Valentine a hug for introducing me to something so fun.