What app uses 15-60 second videos and has over 800 million monthly active users? If you guessed TikTok, you are correct! TikTok is without a doubt the hottest social media app of the present day, but why? How did it find success in a pool of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.? What makes it so attractive to young adults, and what are some of the concerns that people have about the app? Through the use of Everett Rogers Diffusion of Innovations, we can take a closer look and attempt to theorize just that!
As previously stated, TikTok currently has over 800 million monthly active users, which is up 300 million from January 2019 as found by the “Digital 2020” report. But what explains the success? According to John Holdridge, “We've all gotten so caught up in maximizing reach by growing a massive fan base through subscribers or followers, so it's refreshing to have a platform with an algorithm that rewards content above all else.” The mega-app has become known for the ability to go “viral” over a single video, which means that if the content is good the audience will help it get noticed. This is a serious draw for many young adults who want to feel “famous” even if it’s only for a day. Kenny Trinh added his own thoughts on the matter, “it’s convenient to use. It’s far easier to edit and upload content in TikTok than in any other app such as Instagram or Snapchat. Anyone with a smartphone can easily create and post content.” This is exactly why TikTok would have attracted its early adopters. It’s easy to use and allows for anyone to gain instant popularity. On top of that, the short videos feed into the short attention span of younger generations. For many high school kids, they weren’t initially drawn to the product because of its similarity to the old app Musical.ly, which was an app where people lip-synched to music or funny sounds; however, when it was discovered that kids were using it more like “Vine”, older generations couldn’t wait to get their hands on it. Now kids had the easy accessibility, the quick entertainment, and the old ambiance of Vine, a crowd favorite in the social media world. With all the draw, however, some people choose not to participate in the use of the app.
It’s no secret that more and more kids are glued to their phones as if they’ll miss something major if they put it down for more than 2 minutes. It’s also no secret that social media plays a huge role in the skyrocketing screen time. Many adults, they don’t like feeling attached to something that they lived without for so many years, especially when they know that it might affect their self-confidence or their ability to focus. Another reason some individuals make the decision not to use the app involves privacy concerns. From Geoffrey Fowler’s point of view, “TikTok doesn’t appear to grab any more personal information than Facebook.” that being said, many people are still uncomfortable with any data being tracked at all. It’s especially hard not to raise a brow when whole governments have either banned or considered banning, the app within the country. With those downsides, what would be a benefit?
As a user of the app, I watch both informative videos as well as pure comedic content. For example, one clip might be a joke about something we all used to do as kids and the next video could explain music theory and a chord progression that I could use on my guitar. The app can be what you make it. If you want videos that directly relate to a specific topic, you can make it happen, if you want a variety of topics being covered you can make it happen. Make no mistake, the app is by no means a necessity; however, it can be nice to scroll through a couple of quick videos that help to educate you or simply make you laugh. It comes down to personal preference. Are you comfortable with the data collecting? Is it interfering with your ability to get work done? Is it having a profound impact on your self-confidence/ mental health? For some users the positive outweighs the negative, for others, they aren’t comfortable involving themselves with it (which is absolutely okay).
Overall, you have to ask yourself if the app is benefitting you or distracting you from what really needs to be done. It’s okay to have fun and relax, but it’s also extremely important that you keep an eye on what tech companies could be doing to potentially harm you or lure you into endless scrolling of videos. And remember, you lived without it before, so if push comes to shove you can certainly live without it again!
Sources:
TikTok: Why The Enormous Success?
Is It Time To Delete TikTok? A Guide to the Rumors and the Real Privacy Risks
No comments:
Post a Comment