The White House briefs TikTok creators
Available in over 150 countries with over 1billion users, TikTok has become a global phenomenon. It’s surpassing other social platforms in terms of global internet traffic and is becoming more accessed than Google and its suite of services, including Google Maps and Gmail.
In an op-ed for The New York Times, tech reporter Shira Ovide wrote, “TikTok might be rewiring entertainment, giving the next generation of activists new ways to tell stories and challenging the global internet order.”
Gen Z don’t rely on social media only for entertainment, they look to it for all their information, including news, and many of them are looking to TikTok. With Instagram apparently having become cheugy for Gen Z according to Forbes - that translates as uncool for some of us older folk - TikTok surpassed Instagram in 2021 for Gen Z users. Brands are connecting with audiences via creators who know how to capitalise on the channel features and know their audience. The introduction of #EduTok in 2019 has evolved TikTok into a place to easily learn any skill, hack, trick, or tip on almost anything. Brands are also jumping in on this to capitalise on EduTok videos to engage the youth market. It can act as a gateway to the brand’s other channels via CTAs to more content on YouTube or their website.
In terms of social impact, TikTok is now also a global communication channel delivering real time coverage. The New Yorker’s recent article titled, ‘Watching the world’s first TikTok war’ covered how UGC content is providing updates from the Ukrainian war. The world is seeing the inside story, watching it unfold, mesmerised and horrified, via updates from civilians in bunkers and on the streets of the war zone via videos posted to TikTok.
The reach and powerful connection of TikTok as a news source has also been recognised by the White House who recently brief a carefully selected group of TikTokers about the USA position on the war. The Washington Post covered how the influencers said they felt more empowered to debunk misinformation and communicate effectively about the crisis.
The issue of fake news is complex and forms an overlapping problem— the issues pertain to cybersecurity; national security; privacy; electoral integrity and political interference; media and advertising standards; transparency; and media literacy. Australia, like the rest of the world, is still grappling with how to regulate and manage the issue but the step by the White House shows a key shift in communications policy with the recognition of the need to educate and inform via the power of social influence.