Well, guys, I sipped the Tik Tok Kool-Aid. My daughter introduced me to Tik Tok last year at the beginning of quarantine. We posted dance routines (that took me forever to learn) and performed some skits. Eventually, she created a profile for me, and a #momoftiktok was born.

I didn’t post much initially. Instead, I watched other moms attempt voiceovers, recording failed recipes, pranking their significant others, and poking fun at their children. It was good fun, everybody is super supportive, and the experts post useful tips. There is a legion of users who peruse Tik Tok with no content. Some of these nameless, faceless users are the best followers you'll ever find. Cheering on your mediocre videos, liking your posts, and asking interesting

questions.

Then there's the other side of Tik Tok.

The other day, I came across a post. It was a voiceover that essentially recited: If you raise your

kids, you can spoil your grandchildren. If you don't raise your kids, you have to raise your grandchildren---or something like that.

It's a reasonable opinion and its accuracy is arguable, but so are most things on social media.

No big deal.

Right?

Maybe not. The number of attacks this woman received on that post was insane. Comments

ranged from her not being a good parent and bad-mouthing her kindergarten teacher to heckling her for needing a battery in her smoke detector.

It was ugly.

Remember, she's lip-syncing. It's Tik Tok—another app infiltrated by bored WFH people during quarantine. The opinion, voice, and smoke detector (while admittedly annoying) all belong to the original poster. This woman was merely lip-syncing.

When I was growing up, we used to say, "If you have something to say, say it to my face." Well, the days of healthy confrontation, Pac-Man, and playing outside until the street lights come on are long gone. The good old days resolving conflict through direct communication have been replaced with nameless, faceless internet gangsters who will drag you to the gutter if they disagree with you.

A similar incident when someone posted about getting vaccinated.

During these moments, I have to remind myself that social media is a tool to connect with other writers and book lovers. Some people use it to communicate with old friends or to meet new ones. And for others, it's a way to remain anonymous while being rude.

But whatever our social media intentions, we should all respect one another's differences in opinion. We don't have to agree, but we should be respectful.

Write on,

Tamika