As a 26-year old Millennial, I am just outside the target audience for the video app, TikTok. I see the viral posts reposted to Instagram, which ultimately led to the creation of “reels”, and I usually affiliate TikTok with teenagers, dancing, voice-miming and ASMR, but not journalism. Since taking this class, I’ve realized how fixated Gen-Z is on TikTok. They love it, and they don’t see it going anywhere. Facebook and Instagram are the last place you’ll find cutting edge content, because most influencers are gaining attention through TikTok. I wanted to do my research and find out what journalists and media outlets are using TikTok for news and storytelling. I was pleasantly surprised. Individuals like CNN Correspondent, @MaxFoster, are making the most out of TikTok trends like the tiny mic/lav for reporting, trending sounds, and closed captions. ESPN took me by surprise.
They’re saving sports highlights for the TV screen and mostly reposting funny sports-related content or memes, but no actual reporting. NowThis Politics, Billboard, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, Vice News are media outlets I discovered actively posting to TikTok. Each has their own beat, and some take a more serious approach than others. TikTok videos are only 15-60 seconds long, and their mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. Political outlets are the least of this. They usually repost senators and representatives with closed captions. I think they do this as a way to remain unbiased, because they don’t provide any commentary on their statements. They simply want to post the information for people to see. After this assignment, I have more appreciation for TikTok and the kind of material that can be produced in under 60 seconds. I think people have experienced news fatigue from COVID-19 and the onslaught of bad news that’s come with it. TikTok is a great way to spread news in a simple, easy to understand format that can often also be entertaining. I’ll spend this summer learning the ins and outs of the app, because I don’t see the platform going anywhere.