History of TikTok
TikTok is a Chinese video-sharing social networking service owned by ByteDance, a Beijing-based company founded in 2012 by Zhang Yiming. It is used to create short lip-sync, comedy, and talent videos. The app was launched in 2017 for iOS and Android in markets outside of China. ByteDance first launched Douyin for the China market in September 2016. TikTok and Douyin are similar to each other and basically the same app, but they run on separate servers to comply with Chinese censorship restrictions.
What is TikTok?
TikTok through Mike Ribble's 9 elements of digital citizenship
Digital Access
TikTok is a fairly easy to access app, there is no account sign up required to view its content. Even though people without an account cannot comment or post, they can still view the videos as long they have the app downloaded.
According to Commonsense Media, TikTok is not recommended for children under 15. There's a separate section of the app for users under 13, by letting users only view curated videos. They can't comment, search, or post their own videos, and their data isn't collected. Because access to that area of the app only requires the user to enter a birth date, the app is still recommended for older teens.
Digital Commerce
TikTok is not only an entertaining platform though. According to the article "How to make money from TikTok", the #1 way is to become an influencer, that can lead to being approached by brands to showcase their products in your videos. I also came across an Instagram Marketer, Elise Darma who presents six ways to make money on TikTok.
Digital Communication and Collaboration and Digital Etiquette
TikTok is a form of Digital Communication and Collaboration. It is being used for electronic exchange of information. People use short descriptions attached to their videos so the audience would understand the message. It is used to share creations, tutorials, bits of news, entertainment as well as for finding own voice and express self.
Since there is a great deal of creativity and expressing self on TikTok, Digital Etiquette plays an important role. Teens have to be cautious how they present themselves in front of the world. Since this app has an option to comment on each other’s posts, this is when raising responsible digital citizens is crucial. Teaching people to THINK (Is it true? Is it helpful? Is it inspiring? Is it necessary? Is it kind?) before they post anything is the key.
Digital Fluency
This element has a strong connection to digital etiquette. As Mike Ribble described, the better educated or “digitally fluent” students are, the more likely the ones to make good decisions online, supporting others instead of making negative comments. Digital fluency also ties in with media literacy and the ability to differentiate reliable information from poor content.
Beside poor content, another danger of TikTok is when students use it as a source to learn about news. It certainly provides bits and pieces of breaking news, but do our students have the ability, skills, and knowledge to think critically when it comes to the news and read laterally instead of falling for the ‘fake news’?
Digital fluency also means being critical thinkers having the ability to evaluate what seen online and act as digital leaders by taking actions when it comes to inappropriate and dangerous content, such as the following examples.
The 'skullbreaker challenge'
The 'penny challenge'
The 'cereal eating challenge'
Digital Health and Welfare
From my personal experience I know that if I don’t set a time limit, I end up spending hours a day watching TikTok videos. It is almost addicting. Most of the videos are short, vibrant, sometimes funny, or creative, sometimes super sad. I found it quite hard to keep a balanced approach when it comes to this app, how do we expect our kids and students to do so?
After spending more hours reading about TikTok, I found out that it is taking action and it offers a useful tool to help users take control of their screen time. The Screen Time Management setting, part of the Digital Wellbeing portion of the app, helps anyone manage their ideal screen time by choosing a time cap that can be locked behind a four-digit passcode.
On the TikTok website, there are useful tips on how to access the Screen Time Management tool:
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From the "Privacy and setting" page tap "Digital Wellbeing"
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Tap "Screen Time Management"
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Choose your desired time limit and tap the red button at the bottom
Digital Law
Setting a private account is crucial to be able to avoid anybody being able to text. Unfortunately cyberbullying and sexting can still be an issue in within the circle of youth.
Digital Rights and Responsibility
This is a crucial element of being a responsible digital citizen. We need to teach our students to be diligent when using Social Media, raising critical thinkers to be able to identify potential problems as well as be brave to inform adults of problems they come across. This way they can protect themselves and others.
Digital Security and Privacy
It is important to teach our students to respect their privacy by being careful with the information they share through their TikTok videos and comments since they cannot control what will happen to the content of their post after it is being posted.
It is also useful to check the Privacy Policy of TikTok where the list of the personal information they gather is endless.
Conclusion
My two favourite TikTok videos summarize how I feel about this Social Media platform. It is fun, creative and unique. As a mom and teacher, I also feel that it is my responsibility to teach youth how to be respectful and responsible digital citizens in order to make their social media presence be a positive experience.
