Has SNL become jealous of TikTok?

The Atlantic

Saturday marked the third time this season that Saturday Night Live has had a sketch lampooning TikTok. "The sketch, which uncannily replicated the wormhole-like experience of TikTok, was immaculately produced, though the level of postproduction required to send up lo-fi content carries a certain kind of irony," says Amanda Wicks. "But by being so on the nose with its imitation, SNL failed to say anything particularly meaningful. Like cast member James Austin Johnson’s eerily accurate Trump impression, it was clever but lacked insight." Wicks adds: "In taking aim at TikTok users, SNL is swiping at an audience whose attention it’s competing for. Although SNL became the overall top entertainment program in the coveted 18-to-49 age bracket last season, ratings for the current season premiere dropped by 35 percent compared with its predecessor. Metrics aside, SNL is far, culturally, from its high-water mark during the lead-up to the 2008 presidential election, when its sharp-toothed political commentary and Tina Fey’s uncanny take on Sarah Palin regularly claimed the spotlight. Since then, as social-media apps have shifted the speed with which viewers consume information, and as attention spans have narrowed, the show has struggled to keep pace in the way that other, more viral-friendly platforms can. The amount of time it’s dedicated to TikTok this season could be viewed as an attempt at staying current, but it has come off more like jealousy instead." As Wicks points out, SNL's pandemic episodes two years ago revealed how similar the show is to TikTok, with cast members doing what TikTok users do -- perform in front of the camera at home.

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