On a platform filled with short, user-created videos, JULIAN JORDAAN sees phenomenal opportunities for savvy brands.
28 I T H E M E D I A
28-29_TheMedia_June2021_TikTok.indd 28
T
themediaonline.co.za
30.06.21 12:01
IMAGE: PEXELS
TikTok: the evolution of content
he world’s most downloaded app in 2020, with hundreds of millions of users on the platform, is intrinsically different from any other. TikTok is not only revolutionary, but also evolutionary, and it is shaping the way we create, discover and consume content. Inspiring creativity and bringing joy are core to the experience on TikTok. Creativity is how users express themselves, create trends and come together. If you spend any amount of time on the platform, you will quickly find this to be true. TikTok has the power to take seemingly mundane, everyday moments and catapult them into massive viral movements in which millions of people participate. On TikTok anyone can be discovered, and any video can become viral. In a recent article, MIT heralded the TikTok algorithm as one of the “year’s most important technologies”, next to other breakthrough tech such as mRNA vaccines and lithium-metal batteries. MIT explains that this is largely “because the algorithms that power TikTok’s ‘For You’ feed have changed the way people become famous online”. The article also notes: “The ability of new creators to get a lot of views very quickly – and the ease with which users can discover so many kinds of content – have contributed to the app’s stunning growth.” This rapid evolution of content discovery and consumption can be explained by the major shift in consumption graphs, where TikTok is leading the change from the social graph to content graph. This can lead to higher user engagement rates than other social media platforms. The content graph is all
