YOUTUBE vs TIK TOK: all right!! But here problem lies.

By now, almost everyone on social media is aware of the ongoing feud between two of the most popular social media platforms for video creation- YouTube and TikTok.
 The feud sparked when Elvish Yadav, a famous YouTuber, having more than 8.14 lakh followers on YouTube, created a video about four weeks ago, in which he roasted TikTokers, comparing them to rag-pickers and pointing out top TikTok artists such as Amir Siddiqui, Soumya Pikachu, and Revolver Rani. The video got 8.5 million views, a lot more attention than it normally would’ve got, probably because it broke out at the time when people were bored of being quarantined!

As anticipated, TikTokers retaliated by insulting YouTubers, alleging that they lacked originality. Amir Siddiqui’s video reaction, in particular, got a lot of audiences. His video triggered a mass online feud that saw supporters from both the communities trying to outdo each other.
The feud had reached its climax when the Indian Roast God, Carry Minati, created his own video roasting TikTokers in general and Amir Siddiqui in particular. He used homophobic slurs for TikTokers, such as “meetha” and “chakka”.

With over 70 million views, the video quickly became the most liked non-musical Indian YouTube video, before it was taken down by YouTube on March 14. This angered Carry Minati’s supporters and fans and they began an online movement to bring down TikTok, using hashtags such as #JusticeForCarry, which resulted in TikTok’s rating going down from 4.6 to 2.0!
The gender-offensive and homophobic slurs used by Carry Minati in his video were wrong and unjustifiable. In the name of humor or roast, one cannot joke about people’s appearances and their social status. Moreover, the TikTok app, with its in-built edits and features gives a platform to those who do not have fancy cameras, editing software, eye-catching shoot locations, etc.  to showcase their talent.

However, the TikTok app must be taken down because unlike other social media applications, it does not have content moderation due to which users create abominable videos glorifying terrorism, promoting acid attack, normalizing rape, and other disgusting social evils.
It’s up to you to decide which side you’re on- YouTube’s or TikTok’s. Or as Internet’s favorite Nazma Aapi (Saloni Gaur) says, “Hum to creativity ki side hain” (we favor creativity). Or, you can choose to be not bothered by a bunch of social media fanatics busy arguing with each other online, over ‘content-creation’, while the rest of the world is burning over the “real issue”.





- Sara Rihab