TikTokkin' Away

"But in many types of social interactions, it's not the direct interaction with that person that makes us feel close to them, but rather it's shared experience." - Dr. Andrew Huberman

The Global Phenomenon - TikTok

Phil here again, howdy all. So TikTok almost famously got banned from the United States earlier this year. It was only gone for hours, but the collective hyperventilating and people losing their minds was likely felt on the other side of the planet. And while it is funny to consider how my generation and younger (and some older too) might have handled being permanently banned from their favorite social media app, that crisis seems to have been averted for now.

Without getting into the current political turmoil befalling my country, I mention TikTok only to segue into something far more palatable. As you likely know by now, we love golf here at SidLinx. I've been learning it slowly now for a fair few months. I'll be sharing more about that journey in the future. Today though, I wanted to talk about one specific aspect of that journey.

The TikTok Generation - Golf Kids

When I say Golf Kids, I wish I were talking about myself, but in this instance, I mean teenagers. TikTok and Golf are usually two things that one would not pair together. Golf tends to be thought of as a sport for the older generations. Tiger Woods is pushing 50 now, and it doesn't quite resonate with the younger generation. Or does it?

TikTok skews toward the younger generations. It tends to focus on frenetic, short form content that people can switch from one video to the next with a flick of their thumb. Surprisingly, between cute dog videos and some really stupid dancing, I stumbled upon a surprisingly large amount of golfing content.

I began looking up golf content to see if I could get any tips to improve my 'game'. I was very surprised to see how popular the sport was, not just on TikTok, but with people in their teens, in their 20s like me, and 30s. Now that probably says more about my naivete about golf, but I was really quite pleased to see it. It's burgeoning with young talent that tells me this sport isn't going anywhere. I think that's cool.

The Social Impact

These little snippets of people sharing their golfing experiences range from laugh out loud funny, to genuinely educational. Some are just neat to see, like Tiger Wood's son getting his first hole in one. If I ever get one of those, I sure hope it gets caught on video.

While social media can be attributed to many negative impacts in the world (everyone has a drunk uncle who posts on FaceBook far too much, right?), it can also be attributed to building communities. Golf is a good example of that. I immediately resonated with seeing all of these people sharing their experiences, and having exactly the same issues I've been having. Everybody duffs the ball. Everybody slices a banana. We all start somewhere. And then you also see people who have been working on their game for a long time and it seems to come so effortlessly.

I was very happy to find a bit of golfing content to scroll through on TikTok. It's not the same as reading a book, or watching longer form content on YouTube, but for certain generations it is the go-to today. If it helps to encourage people to consider taking up the sport, I consider it a win. Keep swingin' away, TikTok.

Here's some TikTok users that I subscribed to:

• ZireGolf (mainly for the laughs),

• florisfluijtgolf (sharing his golfing journey)

• golfdigestofficial (for the hardcore golfers)