HAS TikTok effectively killed Instagram, even if the latter is still very much around? Or is TikTok just a fad that’s a hit with today’s generation and will eventually fade away into oblivion once Gen Z gets older?
Here’s what I have observed about Instagram and these are my own observations and opinions: The people who’ve always been so into Instagram are older people. My daughter, for instance, has never been 100 percent into it like I have. She’d scroll through her Twitter feed daily or even twice a day but she barely looks through Instagram for leisure. Disclaimer: She’s a digital specialist (this is her actual job title) and she handles social-media accounts so she’s online all day.
Even when she was younger, she did not spend a lot of time on Instagram. She much preferred Twitter and YouTube.
Anyway, this is the age of TikTok and every person is there, it seems. If you’re there, you’d know that it is like an alternate universe. What’s popular on other social-media platforms is not necessarily popular there. For instance, the beauty content creators who are very popular on other platforms aren’t necessarily big on TikTok. A colleague has been complaining that her videos on TikTok don’t get as much traction as those on her Instagram.
Social media is really a fickle master, especially in this day and age when people don’t have the patience to read through articles and captions, or watch long videos explaining things.
TikTok may be a source of fake news, speculation and gossip but once you filter through all that, there’s a lot of good and useful information you can find there.
The beauty tutorials, for instance, are more authentic and realistic. You can find tutorials and challenges like the ones where creators apply their makeup in three minutes. That’s so useful for women who apply their makeup during the commute to work.
I also love how TikTok democratizes everything like designer brands. People are genuinely happy for someone who found a copy of the bag worn by a popular Korean celebrity. Yes, I know fakes are fakes and selling fake designer goods is against the law, but I say let people have their joy. If they’re happy buying a bag that they bought for P200, let them be happy. Luxury houses should go after those who sell Class A imitations bags for thousands of pesos.
On TikTok, beauty reviews are also very democratic. There, you’ll find so many reviews of affordable cosmetics and in my opinion, this has challenged Filipino beauty brands to level-up in terms of their product offerings. They know they’ll be up for intense scrutiny because while there are many TikTok filters and they’re really intense, people can somehow tell if your product is good or not.
I have yet to appreciate cooking content on TikTok and I’m very happy getting recipes from my favorite YouTube content creators.
What I don’t like about TikTok is the proliferation of fake news and the way many trolls are so liberal in hurling insults at others. I’m not talking about politics here. I’ve seen someone curse at someone reviewing restaurants in the creator’s own comments section. I’ve seen commenters call creators ugly. I’ve seen comments making fun of people’s disabilities and physical deformities. I’ve also witnessed how some people are so hungry for gossip that they make conclusions, mostly wrong, about other people and their lives.
But while I have a love-hate relationship with TikTok, I appreciate the platform’s rawness and authenticity when presenting beauty and K-pop content, two things I’m really interested in.
Image credits: TikTok