TikTok Non-Fiction

Every few years, a new app redefines the way we use social media. 2020 was the year that TikTok took over. The kids love it! Everybody else says it’s a waste of time. But there’s no denying its popularity.

Like it or not, there is a great migration that happens with social media as new platforms capture culture and offer newer and more unique ways to interact.

The mass adoption of new social media platforms flows through continuous cycles. From Myspace in 2005, moving to Facebook in 2008, and then to Instagram (with a brief interlude by Snapchat) in about 2014. The move to a new social platform is always reluctant, but eventually, the popularity of the platform coerces us all to join.

What social media platform is currently popular with kids and teens?

• MySpace

• Bebo

• Tiktok

• Instagram

In 2020, the mobile app TikTok is the newest contender for the throne. A mix of music, lip sync videos, and micro-video content. TikTok is still undiscovered territory for anyone over the age of 25. Extremely popular with Gen Z , TikTok is a glimpse into what it means to be growing up in today’s hyper-connected world.

The TikTok app is the most popular social media app in 2020. It has been in the top app downloads since 2018.

What generation is Tiktok popular with?

• The Elderly

• Baby Boomers

• Gen z

• Millennials

TikTok Statistics to Know In 2020

As of late 2019, the userbase of TikTok users had reached 800 Million .

It is estimated to reach over a billion users in 2020.

As of June 2020, teenagers accounted for 32 percent of TikTok’s active user accounts

Almost 50% of TikTok’s global audience is under the age of 34 .

26 % of all TikTok users are aged between 18 and 24.

The TikTok app has been downloaded over 1.5 billion times worldwide.

What percentage of Tiktok's global audience is under the age of 34?

• 30%

• 32%

• 50%

• 36%

Who Invented TikTok?

In 2016, Chinese app developer ByteDance created an app named Douyin, a rival to Musical.ly. Launched initially only in China, the app was renamed and rebranded to TikTok for better international appeal. Within a year, the TikTok app had more than 100 million users, and the popularity of lip sync videos continued to rise.

In late 2017, Musical.ly was acquired by ByteDance for a fee of $800 Million. In 2018, Bytedance consolidated the user accounts of Musical.ly and TikTok, merging the two apps into one under the name TikTok.

With this unified brand and user base, the app began to increase in popularity very quickly. TikTok became the most downloaded app on the Apple App store in early 2018, surpassing Instagram, WhatsApp, and YouTube. As of July 2019, TikTok has over 500million total installs on the Google Play Store.

What app/website did Tiktok merge with?

• Byte

• Musical.ly

• ByteDance

• Google

Short Form Video Entertainment

When you open TikTok, a whirlwind of amateur videos greets you. Most of the videos are teenagers lip-syncing to music or sharing something about their day, their romantic crush, or school life.

For anyone over the age of 20, this content has no relevance. But to those in the age demographic, it can garner millions of views and followers. TikTok primarily shows video content that is simply 15 seconds in length.

What do Tiktok users do on the app?

• Garden

• Take photos

• Lip Sync & share content

• Sleep

Catering To Variety

Actor Will Smith recently joined TikTok and within a few weeks, had already amassed a following of over 5 Million people.

The biggest draw of TikTok is the ability to post about anything. Humor, hobbies, fitness, travel, music, photography, dance; every category is open and gaining huge attention. While entertainment seems to be the main draw at the moment, there is an increase in both educational, aspirational, and business-oriented content.

What actor recently joined Tiktok?

• Will Ferrel

• Will I Am

• Will Young

• Will Smith

What’s The Point of TikTok?

When it comes to TikTok, there is a vast market of people looking for micro-entertainment and distraction for a few minutes during the day. If a video is interesting or appealing, it is reshared quickly by the algorithm on the ‘For You’ page and gains millions of views. The added bonus for businesses and companies is that they can advertise to a wide base of users, some businesses create competitions to engage users and even utilise their own hashtags to create hype around a product or service.

What do business owners uses to increase their content engagement?

• Images

• Videos

• Music

• Hashtags

How Safe is TikTok?

Using any social network can be risky, but it’s possible for kids to safely use the app with adult supervision (and a private account). When you sign up for TikTok, your account is public by default, meaning anyone can see your videos, send you direct messages, and use your location information, obviously this can be unsafe. Parents should make sure to turn on all privacy settings for accounts kids are using, so only people you know can interact with your videos or message you on the app.

What do parents need to turn on to ensure safety for children on the app?

• Filters

• Privacy Settings

• Videos

• Passcodes

What Are the Dangers of TikTok?

As the social media platform has grown, there have of course been concerns about the dangers of TikTok.

The overwhelming majority of TikTok users are identified as Gen Z, between the ages of 14 to 24 years old. Because of this, many parents feel a responsibility to understand the dangers of inappropriate content on TikTok and to teach their children to be safe and aware online. 14 year olds are like sponges, soaking in all the information not always able to tell the difference between a cyber stalker and another teenager. Of course safety must therefore be taken into account if your child is planning to use the app.

What linguistic device is used in the phrase "14 year olds are like sponges"

• Simile

• Metaphor

• Alliteration

• Personification

Will you join up?

The evolution of mobile marketing on platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat has shown that absolutely anything is possible with the right audience.

For anyone with a business or personal brand that produces video content, TikTok is worth joining and experimenting with. As the app grows in reach, its ability to advertise and promote will likely become a big part of the ecosystem.

What has evolved through these platforms?

• Dancing

• Mobile Marketing

• Branding

• Tiktok