TikTok has gone viral and then some. A spiritual successor to Vine and an actual successor to Musical.ly, the shortform video sharing app has swept the world in the past year. Like other social media apps, its frequently the source of viral memes, slang, challenges, and dances. You may have seen it on the news when teenagers used the app to spread the word about a plan to reserve tickets for a Trump rally (and then not show up), when lawmakers called for a national security review of the app, or when it launched last years runaway hit song, Lil Nas Xs Old Town Road. Initially popular mostly among teenagers and young adults, since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, TikTok has exploded in popularity among users of all ages.

TikTok serves an endless scroll of videos on your For You page. You can scroll down to keep watching videos that TikTok has curated for you based on your likes and activity using its algorithm. (This is not necessarily a good thing. TikTok has been suspected of suppressing black creators and had been preventing users from getting their content on For You based on their appearance and whether they appeared to be in slums or dilapidated housing. In the past, it has also suppressed videos by LBGTQ creators and creators with disabilities.) You can also find content and creators to follow by searching up hashtags and even sounds.

If you want to post your own content, you can edit your videos in-app. Videos recorded through the app can be a maximum of 15 seconds long, but you can string clips together for a max length of 60 seconds or upload longer videos that youve recorded outside the app. TikTok also allows you to do duets, where you can place your own video side by side with another video, allowing you to film a reaction video, answer questions, or dance and sing together.

(Keep in mind that, like other social networking apps, TikTok has its own share of privacy issues such as the recent discovery that it was accessing content from the clipboard on iOS devices.)

Once you set up the app, make an account, and start interacting with content, its easy to get lost in the video feed. Heres how to get started. (These instructions were written for an iPhone, but the process for the Android app should be similar.)

Youre ready to start watching videos! But you dont have an account yet. If you want to post content, see and read messages, or get more personalized recommendations, youll need an account. To make one:

When you set up an account, by default, everyone can see your videos, but you might want to set your account to private. This means that people will have to request to follow you in order to see your videos. Heres how to put your account on private:

Now youre ready to watch videos and post your own! The more you use TikTok, the more youll get content tailored to you, which means (at least for me) the more time youll end up spending on the app.

The Verges Julia Alexander recommends taking time to really explore beyond the For You page by scrolling through different hashtags, looking up songs, and finding new creators to follow. To learn more about using the app, read her guide on navigating the culture, content, and niches of TikTok.

Update June 30th, 4:36PM ET: This article was updated to add a mention of recent privacy concerns.

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How to get started with TikTok - The Verge