It is very ‘trend’ driven, meaning that almost every week there’s a new trend and every person recreates that trend, trying to get views and onto the for you page(which is the main scrolling page).

Many ‘influencers’ hope to get TIKTOK famous by starting new trends, getting followers, views and a platform to leverage themselves.

Each social media platform has its own intention/purpose. Facebook is story-based, Instagram is picture based and TikTok is performance-based. Each platform will obviously then attract a different audience/demographic who ultimately use the platforms and hope to get engagement, visibility and a reputation from. Why? Because an engaging, popular platform means that the platform can make more money from ads.

What I feel is happening, is that people are becoming more and more attention-seeking, focusing on getting an ego-driven result, rather than for personal or business use. The question is, how far will you go to get visible, get ‘liked’ and get strangers as ‘friends’. At the end of the day, why are you on TikTok? Is it just for popularity, fame, brand loyalty, views, fans or to build genuine relationships and earn respect? In the process, there is a huge risk of creating, what some may say are ‘cringy’ performances, and then be left with cruel hurtful comments, after you may have been so proud of what you had created. How will this affect your self-confidence and self-image?

We do however establish boundaries around privacy settings, types of performance and usage times. We also regularly discuss appropriate and inappropriate content, and what we in fact we think are acceptable or unacceptable comments/feedback. The platform seems to leave the door open to criticism, judgement and online bullying, including a false reality of what ‘trendy’ or ‘cool’ is.

With the constant new ‘trends’ on TikTok, I think it will keep certain people entertained and involved, however, I’m not sure for how long exactly. I believe, like every social media platform, if the platform doesn’t get used how it was intended, and doesn’t get done correctly, eventually it will become another time-waster to both those viewing and participating on it. Those who rely on it for visibility or popularity will fall short if that’s their only claim to fame. Like every social media platform, there needs to be some careful thinking and planning before using any platform, including having a strategy which is safe and has an intended outcome. If it’s for personal use, then explore your privacy settings. If it’s for public use, consider WHY the public (business, fame, attraction marketing) and what are you hoping to achieve? Familiarise yourself the entire platforms features and privacy, and develop an income-producing strategy so it doesn’t become a waste time. More importantly, if having a public profile, consider having a reputation and crisis management plan in place for any potential trolling which may occur.