One under-discussed aspect of this is that TikTok is designed to create the feeling of popularity out of thin air. If the TikTok algorithm decides that you like a topic (or a song or really anything it can identify), you will see a TON of that thing. It creates this "OMG everyone is talking about this" feeling with very little material. So it's the perfect engine for this kind of panic, especially from people who haven't figured this out yet.