Year after year we see how the use and consumption of apps and social networks changes and in 2018 the app that has had the greatest growth in terms of use has been Tik Tok, a new platform that since 2017 has captivated different markets such as China or the United States, and has become the fourth most popular application in Spain with a growth of more than 96% compared to 2017.
What is Tik Tok?
Tik Tok is a young social network, its main audience according to data from the social network itself is found in ages between 18 and 24 years. It is a platform in which users create their videos, edit them with different filter options and share them with a community that seeks a leisure content through the mobile device. The public is young because we are talking about a generation accustomed to the consumption of content through the smartphone which is its key device for communication, information and entertainment.
How does Tik Tok work?
The content of the social network is based on 4 pillars that help it to be easy to consume and high permanence:
- Vertical format: as it is a mobile first social network, the content in this format is essential to connect with the user in a natural way, avoiding the need to rotate the device and losing attention and interaction functions.
- Full screen: with this aspect they make sure to have the total attention of the user when being an entertainment content, distractions are avoided and the consumption experience improves.
- Duration of 15 seconds to 5 minutes: the time of the videos being short generates that the user consumes a greater volume of videos, which increases the permanence and loyalty.
- Storytelling: perhaps the most important feature of the network, as content creators have a large number of recording options, editing, filters or music to create simple stories that engage the global community. With all these options all that is needed from the user is imagination and creativity.
It is important to mention that for new users who do not have a community already created can connect other social networks such as instagram or youtube to communicate their content. In addition, using hashtags and participating in the challenges of Tik Tok, any user able to create quality content can have a significant exposure reaching thousands of users thanks to the ability of its algorithm to disseminate content to users who may potentially be interested.
What can be done at Tik Tok?
Within the social network we locate many categories in which users with different interests can develop their content:
- Original comedy: mainly short videos in the form of sketches.
- Pets: as in other social networks are contents in which mainly dogs and cats are the protagonists.
- Food: in this category we locate recipes and gastronomic proposals.
- Vlog: a format very aimed at lifestyle and posture in which users share their day to day.
- Makeup: beauty content in the form of makeup tutorials or integration of music in videos of makeup artists.
- Fashion: a window to users’ fashion trends.
- Travel: vertical dedicated to the destinations shared by users, very aligned with vblog.
- Dance: here we locate users who use the music option to generate leisure content by replicating or inventing dance movements.
- Music: a category that comes from inheritance of lip sync content or playback of musical.ly to create music videos.
- Sports: Mostly eye-catching sports such as gymnastics or parkour.
- Arts: we find drawings, lettering and different artistic representations.
The diversity of categories helps to have content available for any interest and age, which in the future will help the social network to settle within the platforms used by users. Besides, we can consider it safe because of the contents prohibited in the social network such as drugs, violence, weapons, bad words, sexual contents, etc.
