World War III is raging on TikTok

TikTok wants to be a place for uncomplicated fun — talented teen dancers, absurd comedy videos, a ton of lip-syncing — so it’s unfortunate for TikTok that it's built a platform that is inadvertently ideal for activist messaging. As Rebecca Jennings [explains](, the app takes the best of YouTube (visuals, video!) and Twitter (brevity!), and users are making highly impactful memes about the state of the world, employing a mix of anxiety, nihilism, advocacy, and dancing. The kids are tackling everything from New York City policing issues to the lack of media attention around the fires in Australia to the advent of World War III, and their messages are coming across loud and clear. —[Meredith Haggerty](, deputy editor of The Goods TikTok never wanted to be political. Too late. [tiktok logo in front of flames]( Sarah Lawrence for Vox As 24 million acres of Australia burned in record bushfires between September and January, Australian teens turned to TikTok. Chloé Hayden, a 22-year-old motivational speaker and YouTuber based in Victoria, had barely used the video-sharing app, but her peers were flooding it with their [frustration]( with Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s [mishandling of the crisis]( and footage of the dense smoke as a way of raising awareness among a largely ignorant public. [Chloé’s video](princessaspien/video/6777894771529682181) was a perfect encapsulation of the TikTok sensibility: She used a popular meme format to show the hypocrisy of the lack of media attention by comparing it to the immediate outpouring of financial support after the Notre Dame fire. It was equal parts funny and incisive, and ended up being viewed nearly 300,000 times. “I love that through the use of short comedy sketches, teens are getting a bigger point across than most lengthy, informative articles posted by some old bloke who we can’t relate to in the slightest,” she explains. “It’s both parts a coping mechanism and an incredible way to speak our minds where we’re all equal, and I genuinely don’t think there’s any other platform that you can do that in a similar way.” [Read the full story on Vox ]( Shopify, the e-commerce company that’s coming for Amazon It powers Allbirds and Kylie Jenner, and wants to do much more. [Read the full story ]( The best $10 I ever spent: Sleep headphones to soothe my bedtime anxiety I used to be great at sleeping. Now that I’m older, more anxious, and married, I need some extra help. [Read the full story ]( More good stuff to read today - [Mr. Peanut's death, explained]( - [I lost myself within my married household. I found myself by creating my own.]( - [How Lunar New Year became a shopping holiday for Western brands]( - [TikTok is full of Sephora and Chipotle employees spilling secrets. That can get complicated.]( - [Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are giving up their “royal highness” titles]( Manage your [email preferences](, or [unsubscribe]( to stop receiving emails from Vox Media. View our [Privacy Policy]( and our [Terms of Service](. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved.