Don’t Judge TikTok By Its Cover
Using it to our advantage, we will be resourceful rather than immature.
One might be skeptical to hear that an app can tell us about the world. Can it show us life beyond real experiences? Can it teach us something other than what nourishing books offer? I believe in using the latest viral app the right way to our advantage and entertainment purpose.
Since the beginning of the year, and more so after the quarantine, I’ve “shamefully” used TikTok. None of my friends or colleagues use TikTok, so I don’t have many people to share what I’ve found interesting or funny. I recently converted one friend to TikTok, and that’s about it. I would get teased by my peers when I admit I use TikTok because of its brand image for young “teenagers.” Somehow, many people seem to associate TikTok with wasting time, being childish, or not getting it.
I was skeptical at first, too.
After months of contemplating the difference between myself and my peers, I questioned why we put negative sentiments to being “young.” What is wrong with being 13 years old? I recognized that criticizing other age groups is a reflection of the concealed superiority complex. There is no rule that we have to pursue activities that define our age groups. Oriented to our old thinking, bias can inhibit us from being experimental. This leads us to stick to our old habits.
I want to frame how using TikTok could be associated with being “resourceful” rather than being seen as “immature.” My time spent reading books and watching TikTok both increased, and I recognized TikTok could offer something that books don’t: a window to the future generation’s mindset. Hence, this frame of mind can apply to any new apps, products, and technology, not just TikTok.
Being among millennials and older, I’ve noticed more people began talking about their favorite Netflix shows or Tiger King on Zoom meetings. As a cord-cutter, I was losing the common ground in ways to alleviate quarantine nerves. I wanted them to know how to “throwback,” make Dalgona whipped coffee, or see funny videos on TikTok. But I knew that it wasn’t a reasonable expectation. After realizing that I spend more time on TikTok and YouTube than Netflix or Hulu, I’ve learned that I have some Gen Z characteristics and highlight some things that may be left behind our ordinary lives.
I want to share some personal reasons why I find the latest app interesting and how I have been utilizing it:
1. Countless Creative Ideas
There are countless fascinating ideas on the app. My favorites include satirical comedy videos by Rob Anderson, a marketing director at Infatuation. It is not a platform for silly dance videos but an avenue for discovering a lot of “How To”s: find humor in every situation, take shockingly amazing photos, appear online on Zoom classes, reuse plastic bags for multiple uses, make oat milk at home since your local store is probably out of it… all in 15 seconds and there is never an end.
2. #Studytips: New Methods of Learning
One of the contents I’m being targeted at is #studytips. I found new study tips and productivity hacks from younger students that are thought-provoking. They say, “study smarter, not harder.” Abundant with technology, Gen Z has many tools to augment their learnings. I didn’t know until this study tip video that we can use the voice recording feature on Google Docs to record a lecture then neatly organize a note quickly. An Adobe Education Survey states that 93% of these students consider technology in the classroom essential to nurture their creativity and prepare them for their future careers.
3. Insights into Gen Z’s Mindset
I didn’t know how mature Gen Z was until I ran into their self-made financial education videos. A 19-year-old girl gave a tutorial on “5 ways you can make money”, one of which included starting investing in Roth IRA. She then went on preaching, “let’s be better than the millennials and learn from their mistake,” which was a harsh wake-up call. I read that Gen Z is financially focused than any generation. It was eye-opening to realize how they are financially literate from a very young age. Learning from their elders and having seen the debts of millennials, Gen Z approaches money a lot more carefully and pragmatically. According to Visual Capitalist for the World Economic Forum, 89% of Gen Z say planning for their financial future makes them feel empowered, and 64% have already begun researching on their own or talking to others about financial planning.
4. Discovery of Cool Tunes
TikTok has a lot of vogue-ish music, which most aren’t available in general streaming apps. It became my new platform for discovering both trendy songs and unique tunes. I also rediscovered songs I used to know from the 70s/80s through different lenses. They are uploaded by creative young individuals and often are remixes or reversed versions of popular songs. Besides the famous Doja Cat’s “Say So,” I found the reversed slowed version of Tame Impala’s “The Less I know Is Better,” which is even more nostalgic than the original. Pandora has created a playlist for the top TikTok songs to help to listen to these in one go. SoundCloud has some remixes available here.
5. Learning Visual Communications
We can earn about the latest filters and how to transform photos and videos to portray our messages. The world is becoming more visual, and it is a powerful tool to learn what new effects are out there. Whether it is a “delayed” or “green screen,” the G6 or retro-futurism filters, using it appropriately helps to portray a particular feeling or message we want in a visual. Learning how to incorporate appropriate texts and filters improves one’s visual communications. It helps to deliver information to efficiently and effectively create meanings.
6. Delivery of Short and Sweet
If things got to be interesting from the 0.1 seconds, TikTok does it right.
There are, of course, contents I don’t find useful or rather annoying. Influencers’ marketing, general travel stories, celebrities singing John Lennon’s “Imagine” that literally is unhelpful to our healthcare workers. Thanks to their ever-evolving algorithms, I am not served with those videos anymore and can cater the contents to my needs.
While being consumed with ourselves, it is crucial to look outside our own interests and observe above and beyond generations. I am grateful for having had analog experiences before the emergence of high tech and having gained knowledge outside of the internet. However, now that we can’t travel anywhere and are unable to gain new “experience” elsewhere, Gen Z’s take on TikTok provides some realistic ways to live life pragmatically.
If millennials have created social media, Gen Z has plowed new ideas on them. We don’t have to indulge hours on TikTok, but take the creative aspects from it and nourish our minds. Using it in the right way, it opens up a whole new channel of entertainment and ideas.
I am not advocating for TikTok as a company but its usefulness. When books can inform us of truth, depth, and the history of the past, the latest app teaches us practicality and new ideas. It can serve as a good complement to the current Instagram and as a light-hearted break from serious news. If the app is not for us, there is nothing lost. We simply tried it, understood what it meant, and moving on with a taste of new flavor. If we want to be on par with the market and discover new trends, we have to be awake—whether TikTok now or something else in a year or two.
