Image via RollingStone.com
Well I think I have finally arrived at the point of “feeling old” in my late 20’s. The emergence of TikTok, which if you have been living under a rock, is a Chinese video-sharing social networking service owned by ByteDance that is taking our pandemic-fueled world by storm. Scores of young millennials are using the app and even older professionals are slowly embracing this new trend as it becomes more of a mainstream accessory in our tech-crazed world. With the world slowly coming back to a new normal, I wonder if this is the most opportune time for this app to emerge or if its trendiness will soon fade away? Below I delve more deeply into my thoughts on the topic and share some of my initial takeaways.
Before we get too far into the weeds, I just want to say that I am by no means an expert on the medium, but rather offering some rapid-fire takeaways on the new-ish social media app. First off, the success of the app is really undeniable at this point. In 2019, media outlets cited TikTok as the 7th-most-downloaded mobile app of the decade, from 2010 to 2019. It was also the most-downloaded app on the App Store in 2018 and 2019. The Chinese company has seen a slew of interest even before the COVID-19 outbreak, but it has taken off even more in part thanks to the global stay-at-home orders given out by various nations. I myself have not downloaded the app, but I do wonder if the success will be longer lasting like Facebook or fizzle out like Vine.
What I have seen through this strange time in history is that the creative power of TikTok is really taking off, especially when it comes to the generation that is younger than myself. Most famous entertainers have taken to using the app along with football coaches utilizing it to relate to new incoming recruits (thanks, Dabo). The app seems to be generating a new head of steam to all walks of life and has been trending like crazy on other social media platforms like Instagram. What’s more is that TikTok does not seem to be slowing down and is now being helmed by Kevin Mayer as CEO and COO after he was chairman of the Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International division of the company. This is a promising addition since the app has come under fire for potential concerns relating from user privacy issues to conspiracy theories regarding the app’s origins.
So where do I stand on the popularity of the app? Well I don’t think I will be adding a profile anytime soon (unless I have another blog where I do covers of 80’s dance hits), the growth and development of the company is hard to argue with. As the world is utilizing video technology constantly during this global pandemic, I wonder if that will be the norm of the future in about a decade or so once this younger generation grows up. Consumers around the world love video more and more, but I don’t think it will ever supersede face to face interactions. But who knows, this could be the beginning of a new wave and our whole business lifecycle will be completely different by the time it is all said and done. So let me know what you think of TikTok below and if you think it will be an effective tool to communicate your brand in the future.
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