Tiktok: Taking over the world

TikTok is the leading video-sharing social networking site. It is a social media video sharing platform where people can post short entertaining music videos with a wide selection of sounds and song snippets, along with the option to add special effects and filters. There is also an option to directly add videos created on your phone.

The users on TikTok can upload and edit 15-second videos, usually set to catchy music or voice-overs. The videos ranging from challenges, dance videos, magic tricks are fun and silly and watching them feels like a new source of entertainment.

Like its fellow social media apps, users can also follow, like, and comment on everything they see.

TikTok was the third-most-installed app worldwide in the first quarter of 2019, behind WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. It boasts 1.2 billion monthly users globally, making it potentially bigger than Instagram, which reported 1 billion monthly users in 2018, and a viable competitor to YouTube (1.9 billion monthly users) and Facebook (more than 2 billion).

But what makes TikTok different from other social media apps?

Fellow social media apps such as Instagram and Twitter have developed their platforms algorithms in such a way that it allows users to follow and unfollow them based on their interests and preferences. With Tiktok, users can open the app and directly access the ‘For You’ tab which showcases videos ranging from diversified categories and creators.

The advanced data research and AI algorithms are strategically applied in such an impressive way that it brings up the content for users following on their preferences, interests and what exactly they want when they open the app without the users following the creator.

The diversity in terms of creating content on TikTok is massive and limitless which makes users generate videos from many genres. It also offers collaboration where users can connect with anyone on the platform and make videos together. This allows people to increase their reach and network.

TikTok makes people’s life full of entertainment wherever they go. It is free to use and with its huge dashboard of content, users from all generations make and watch videos, ranging from street food workers to celebrities like Jimmy Fallon and many more. With the app’s popularity growing tremendously, the video-sharing platform recently unveiled a strategic partnership with leading educational institutions to further democratizes eLearning with the launch of the #EduTok Program in India.

Through this initiative, the leading short-video platform is planning to educate 5,000 young individuals through a mentorship program. TikTok also recently tied- up with VOOT, one of India’s most popular OTT platforms, to launch the first #EduTok chat show “Work It Up” with Sophie Choudry.

Over 10 million pieces of content were created and shared to date using the #EduTok hashtag which has secured over 48 billion views and has been shared 1.8 billion times on TikTok.

In a very short span, TikTok India has clocked a profit of Rs. 3.4 crore, when its advertising services only started a few months ago. This indicates that TikTok is here not as a boon to only content creators but also the brands looking for mass reach.

Brands are using the platform to bridge between micro-moments and micro-influencers. The brands spending money on TikTok right now know it is strictly for brand awareness. Unlike YouTube, the videos aren’t hyperlinked nor redirect to your microsite or e-commerce product pages for a proper digital funnel conversion. So, for now, as a brand, you will have to wait.

The fact that videos here don’t look and feel like regular polished YouTube video is why it has gone to make TikTok the most popular platform and a valuable startup in the world.