Berlin / Vienna
Facebook and Instagram were yesterday. Tiktok is the app of the hour. The app is particularly popular among the so-called Generation Z, i.e. those born between 1997 and 2012. But what actually happens on Tiktok?
Tiktok is a video platform on which users can watch short videos for up to 60 seconds or upload them themselves. As soon as you open the app, you are on the “For You” page and the Tiktok algorithm suggests the first video.
“The only way to influence the proposed videos is through the way they consume the video and how long I watch the video, like, comment on or share the video,” explains Adil Sbai, who is the manager for some well-known tiktokers such as Younes Zarou work. Together they wrote the “Tiktok Bible” to explain the app and its functions step by step.
Algorithm as a success factor
Sbai explains one of the app’s success factors that the algorithm’s suggestions are very good. This can be seen from the fact that people spend a comparatively long time with the app: “The average length of stay on Tiktok is longer than on Instagram, with Generation Z even longer than on Youtube, even though the videos are so short. “Above all, the app is a very creative, universal video production app, says Sbai. Record and cut videos, add effects or integrate other videos and sounds. No problem at all: “You can tell and stage a lot of stories with the app without complex video equipment.”
Many Tiktok videos revolve around music, comedy or dance – after all, Tiktok emerged from the karaoke app Musical.ly in 2017. “But that doesn’t mean that the users are apolitical. Fridays for Future and the related hashtags are even more popular on Tiktok than on Instagram, for example. “
Private or public
All videos are uploaded to Tiktok servers. With each individual video, users can determine whether it is only visible to themselves (private) or potentially for all users (public). However, Miriam Ruhenstroth from the consumer protection portal “Mobilsicherheit.de” criticizes the fact that Tiktok sets user accounts to public by default. Although you can delete videos that have already been posted, any user could have saved and shared the videos before deleting them. If you set your account to “private”, according to Tiktok, only confirmed followers can see and comment on your own videos.
Filters and Effects
A number of visual and acoustic effects are available. Videos can be individualized with overlay effects such as color filters or masks, says Iren Schulz, media coach at the “Look out” initiative. Faces can also be blurred in the app. And you can use filters to modify the color tone of the entire video. “With the countdown, several sequences can be recorded in different poses, locations or outfits,” explains Schulz. And videos recorded in slow motion could be accelerated again later. Another Tiktok specialty is the duet, where you can react directly to other videos via video.
Media literacy should be available
Tiktok sets the minimum age for using the app to be 13 years in its user conditions. However, much younger children, especially girls, are often enthusiastic about the app, says Schulz. It is important for Tiktok and all other platforms and networks to train the media skills of children and young people, says Rebekka Weiß from the IT industry association Bitkom. Children in particular have to learn to classify and control usage. Just as important: Talk to the children about their experiences at Tiktok & Co. Parents should create a culture of conversation that also enables children to talk about disturbing content.
In this context, Tiktok has now also announced an opt-in function. When viewing videos that the platform believes could be perceived as inappropriate or threatening, users receive a warning to actively consent before the video is played.
Miriam Ruhenstroth advises parents not to let children set up their profiles on their own. In addition, Tiktok now offers an “accompanying mode”. This allows parents to set usage times and contact options together with their children or to filter out certain content. For this, parents have to install the app themselves.
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