TikTok and Generation X
What the platform ‘for kids’ has to offer us
I first heard about TikTok in 2019. Some community mental health peer support groups fell under my remit and it was Shrove Tuesday which meant pancakes, obviously. One of the younger members was talking about doing a TikTok about their pancake making. I was curious, as always, and asked them to give me an explainer for this new platform I’d not heard of.
When I came home from work, I checked in with my own teens, 17 and 15 at the time. I was pretty much reassured that I was missing nothing. TikTok was not a *thing* and was for younger kids. Fast forward to the pandemic and learning TikTok dances seemed to be the thing that kept my two daughters from killing each other from boredom. I exaggerate, but I have to say the app really came into its own during lockdown. Global downloads of the app in March 2020 bear this out with 115 million being racked up with over 745,000 from the UK. (All Tik Tok data from the excellent Social Films blog.)
Whilst it’s fair to say TikTok has taken off around the world now with over 2 billion downloads, the UK has not wholesale adopted the platform in the way that it has Facebook or Insta. And going back to what my kids told me originally, ‘It’s for kids!’ seems to still hold true. Of the 3.7 million TikTok users in the UK, the number of users over 50 is vanishingly small compared to the younger demographics. TikTok reports 60% of its users are Gen Zers.
So how is it that I, a firm member of Generation X, have found myself playing around with TikTok in 2021? Well, yes, at first it was the dancing. Let me tell you A LOT of work goes into that. Ain’t nobody just showing up to a shopping mall and brokking out in sync. Also, there was #HappyDog and that was ace. But for me, it was the skating that hooked me in. I love a little Atlanta Skate and boy did the TikTok algorithm catch on to that aspect of my personality quick and start serving me these amazing skaters.
It’s still a bit of a leap from being a TikTok consumer to a TikTok creator and I am not going to make the bold claim that I am there yet. But… it’s interesting to be a minority group on a platform, and explore what you can do with it. I have a horrible feeling that if I presented myself as a granny in a dressing gown and danced badly whilst vaping I’d probably get more traction on the platform… but the truth is that the app is way easier (and more intuitive) to produce content on than any of its competitors.
So, listen up. TikTok is most certainly not just for kids. It’s an inclusive platform that has the best closed captions I have EVER seen. As a disability and inclusion advocate, I have tested quite a few. The way TikTok converts speech to text in a very short space of time is incredible and the results are stand out. Far better than what I’ve experienced with other speech to text integrations. And then there are the filters. I keep ‘losing’ the hair filters, a bit like I misplace my actual glasses in real life, but seriously, you can fall out of bed looking a badger from a hedgerow and the TikTok filters can sort out your appearance with minimum effort. Not that I would do such a thing, but still.
And then there’s the music. Whether it’s better than Instagram in that respect I am not qualified to comment, but… it feels more fun. I’ve quickly learned I can favourite certain tracks and use them later, which works for me. It feels more accessible and that perception of customer experience is everything. And if you are interested the top ten TikTok songs in the UK have been highlighted only today on the Beeb. I mean, if you make it to the BBC, you gotta be the real deal, right?
So far from being all about learning sick dance moves, TikTok actually has a lot to offer us wise ones, greying at the temples as we are. I am not quite sure, beyond the granny in the dressing gown vibe which I could do right now to tell the truth, that we’ve explored the fullness of the offer. And that’s partly because we aren’t on the damn thing! Basically, this whole article is about saying to my fellow Gen X ers, get on TikTok and let’s figure something out together!
If you are a business or brand, as with Insta, you have to do the whole link in bio thing, but it’s got so much to offer, and it’s way more fun. So give it a go, you won’t regret it.
