WHY ARE PEOPLE ADDICTED TO TIK TOK

"You know what? No! It's 2018, dammit, we deserve better content than some overdone, annoying sitcom clip lipsynced by a fourteen-year-old to pedophiles around the world because you know damn well that's who's watching preteens on TikTok!"

- Ian Hecox

WHY ARE PEOPLE ADDICTED TO TIK TOK is the fourth episode of the Smosh series My Strange Addiction. This episode, the crew of My Strange Addiction takes a look at Keith Leak II and his socially unhealthy addiction to the social media app TikTok.

Released on December 3, 2018, it was directed by Ryan Todd and written by Ryan Finnerty and Ian Hecox.

Description
''A supple young man struggles with his addiction to the hit app Tik Tok. Fortunately his crafty and ethnically diverse band of pals are there to help end his addiction before it's too late.'' Does anyone read the description anymore? ''Also, yes I called Keith supple. Deal with it.''

Cast

 * Keith Leak II as himself
 * Noah Grossman as himself
 * Olivia Sui as herself
 * Shayne Topp as himself
 * Ian Hecox as himself
 * Courtney Miller as herself

Crew

 * Director: Ryan Todd
 * Producer: Ryan Todd
 * Writers: Ian Hecox and Ryan Finnerty
 * Editor: Ryan Todd
 * Director of Photography: Mitch Anderson
 * Camera: Brennan Iketani
 * Sound Mixer: Greg Jones
 * Makeup Artist: Rachel Jenkins

Synopsis
Keith introduces himself and, according to his friends, his alleged addiction to the social media app TikTok. He interrupts his introduction by switching over to his phone, recording the same line but edited to match the pace of standard TikTok videos. A brief black screen with text narrated by Ian explains what TikTok is and that Keith is one of the top five "TikTokers" in the United States. Ian also explains that Keith's token white friend Noah is concerned about the TikToker's addiction. (It is made apparent in the following scene that Noah is only pretending to be concerned when offered a box of marijuana).

Olivia, another of Keith's friends, describes how she loves Keith as a friend but is frustrated with him since he steals her clothing to "make these really worn-out memes", followed by a clip from Keith following the TikTok trends "Oh, you're with that guy now?". Keith is under the impression that his online habits do not harm anyone.

The cast of Smosh has gathered in a living room to discuss new ideas for videos. Ian asks if Fortnite is still a trend. While Courtney and Shayne discuss this idea, an annoyed Ian is attempting to get the attention of Keith, who is busy recording another video for his TikTok followers. Giggling, Keith shows his latest video to his friends, which depicts him mouthing to someone shouting "I want to kill everyone in this room! I'm going to stab them in their faces!" The rest of the Smoshers don't find Keith's video comedic in the slightest (Shayne even accusingly asks Keith if he is a serial killer). Keith starts to clarify that his exaggerated faces and motions signify comedy, but stops when he realizes that he had forgotten the hashtags.



Ian calls the idea of making funny faces and lipsyncing ridiculous until Keith reminds him that Smosh got famous in the first place doing the same time. Keith goes on to say how TikTok is the new craze and that his friends deem it stupid of unworthy simply because they do not like or understand it. Courtney agrees, as does Olivia, who mentions that she would support Keith if he would stop stealing her clothes (which Keith denies, despite wearing her clothes at that moment). Ian pipes up and denounces TikTok, asserting that, in the modern era, people deserve better content than "some overdone, annoying sitcom clip lipsynced by some fourteen-year-old to pedophiles around the world, because you know damn well that's who's watching preteens on TikTok and it makes me sick!" Ian composes himself and continues, asserting that people need to stand up as content creators and consumers to demand better content.

The rest of the Smoshers shout in approval. When Keith sees Noah shout in agreement after being given a box of weed, he somehow manages to play "Raise 'Em Up" by Chronic Crew and threateningly tiptoes out of the room, leaving everyone else confused.

Noah, Olivia, Shayne, Ian, and Courtney have gathered together on the couch. Ian explains his idea to help Keith: create a sound clip that resembles Keith admitting his addiction, and once Keith sees it on TikTok's "Trending", he will feel obligated to make a TikTok follow-up and then seek professional help. Ian asks who can do a passable Keith vocal imitation:
 * Shayne volunteers first, but his impression is rejected due to being too outlandish.
 * Olivia's impression is rejected due to being too low and deadpan.
 * Noah's "impression" is rejected due to simply being an impression of Jacksepticeye.

Because of the lack of progress, Ian volunteers himself. To the surprise of his friends, Ian manages to do a perfect vocal imitation of Keith (in actuality, Keith's voice is dubbed over Ian's). Using his impression, Ian fakes a sound clip of Keith admitting his addiction to TikTok and how he has given up a life of comedy for one of cringy, unoriginal content, but that he has friends that are willing to help him when he feels ready to change.



To the further surprise of the Smosh cast, they find that the sound clip has already hit millions of views and likes, and multiple TikToks have already been made off of Ian's. Encouraged by their newfound popularity, the Smoshers proceed to brainstorm standard ideas for TikTok videos, such as the zombie filter, an outfit change per word, and a duet with a cringy video made to resemble suicide in response to it. Keith returns and asks if anyone wants to help him shop for a new guinea pig as his old one Newton died the previous day. Everyone declines as they are now busy with TikTok, which Keith finds insane as he had given up the app five hours prior. Noah and Olivia, incredulous, accuses Keith of "Tokblocking" them. Olivia mentions that she is nearly at 100,000 followers, which Ian suggests is because Olivia resembles a young teenager. Olivia is unfazed by the possibility of pedophiles watching her under the impression that she is a teenager.

A brief disclaimer is displayed, clarifying that Smosh obviously does not endorse pedophilia.

Trivia

 * This is the first video produced since the closure of Defy Media. Thus, compared to previous videos, it features a significantly smaller crew.
 * For the first time, someone (in this case, Ryan Todd) served as this video's director, producer, and editor.
 * Ian revealed on Twitter that he was writing the script for the sketch the day Defy Media shut down (November 8, 2018) and everyone was laid off. After about an hour of "wander[ing] around in a haze", he decided to finish the script anyway.
 * Anthony's Bobblehead briefly appears in the video, making it its first appearance since its debut in My Bobblehead is Evil!, which was uploaded on January 11, 2013.