When Facebook boasted about adding up more than one billion users on its platform it was hard to imagine for any other social medium to come forward with similar appeal for masses. The reason is that Facebook has a simple interface, myriad of features and an enhanced mechanism of interaction that its use is easy for even for a common person with little to no knowledge of such platforms. Then came TikTok, a smartphone app that required users to just swap and enjoy what unfolds before their eyes.
What Makes TikTok So Popular?
A short answer for this question can be “Tiktok’s ability to be a mass medium in a true sense”. The app has a diverse demographic user’s base. Those who don’t even know how to read or write their names but own an app compatible phone have to ask someone to make an account and they are all set to enjoy a world of infotainment.
There is not only one single thing that makes Tiktok stand apart from its peers. In fact, there is so much to its features; the mentionable of these are videos with short time span. In the modern times, viewers don’t have enough time to sit before screen for hours and wait for one story to complete. It is evident from how cinema movie duration has decreased from three hours long span to two and half hours long time.
In other words, TikTok is a short, in fact very short story teller that doesn’t let the users get bored from whatever content they are watching and offers them an option to switch with just one swipe.
A Platform for Diverse Influencers
TikTok is not for viewers but content creators from really diverse backgrounds. It doesn’t make it necessary for a user to make branded dresses, get a good make-over, and hire a team of actors to start one’s own channel. It just requires talent, skill and ability to come up with something really unique. Even the top most famous tiktokers with more than 30 million followers are not from the similar backgrounds. They are from USA, Korea, Bhutan, India and other countries. Such a diversity among the top influencers implies that it is indeed an app that has got something from users from different socio-cultural backgrounds.
Diversity of Content
The diversity of users and influencers on Tiktok also translates into the diversity of content. If one video shows a model sharing the beauty tips, the other shows a girl sharing some recipe. Similarly, users can also get to watch videos about religion and entertainment in a go, because the story completely gets changed with that one swipe. This abundance of content with so many options for the users to watch is what makes TikTok an app for everyone.
Even Facebook and Twitter are accessible to masses but they are not that easy to use for everyone. Users who can’t read or write but can listen or watch can also find solace in TikTok making it qualify the title of a mass digital media platform.
A Voice for Under-Privileged
A look at certain videos on TikTok reveals that the app is providing a voice to everyone irrespective of the social background in unique way. There are certain channels from South Asia that show workers making funny videos from their workplace and making people laugh by being relatable to them. Right now, the attractive feature is that there are not much strict regulations regarding editing and uploading of video. Therefore, users can upload what they want. So, it is not wrong to generalize that TikTok is giving people opportunity irrespective of their background.
