Social media platforms are becoming a major role in how we live our lives and how we view the world. Some of the hottest apps right now are YouTube and TikTok, and St. Dominic students are not strangers to either.

Freshman Mary Naumann has been recording YouTube videos since she was eight years old. She started off making her own American Girl doll skits, which people seemed to enjoy. Naumann now has 87.5K followers. Even through online pressure, her content has never been based on her followers, it has always been based on her interests.

“My content has changed many times, but it wasn’t really based on my following. As I got older my interests changed, and so did my content. Sometimes my followers do get angry when I change my channel, but I want to keep the videos about topics that I am interested in, so I have the motivation to make more,” Naumann said.

TikTok is also an app that teens are fascinated with. The goal for many users is to become “TikTok famous,” but it is also to have fun with friends. Many of our St. Dominic students have had at least one of their TikToks blow up.

Sophomores Lacy Juedemann and Avery Shaffer started a joint account on TikTok earlier this year. Juedemann and Shaffer’s most popular TikTok has 254.7K views, and they make TikToks around twice a week.

“We saw these two other girls had one and thought it would be fun since we both like making TikToks,” Juedemann said.

YouTube and TikTok help us all stay entertained and keep us updated with the latest trends, but make sure you use your account for good—you never know who will stumble across it.