Tik Tok is a Chinese based video app that has been launched by ByteDance of China with a view to introduce it to the external market other than its own market. As Tik Tok run on a different server as per the censorship policies of China it has not been accessible within the country although the Chinese version of the same exists in another name known as Douyin. The app can be easily downloaded in most devices and is the hot favorite of youngsters as well as celebrities. The reason for Tik Tok to be so popular is it’s easy to create your own short videos and comedy. The short version is mostly within the range of 3 to 15 seconds for music videos and 3 to 60 seconds for other videos.
It is estimated that the app has been downloaded about 800 million times around the world and in US alone it is 80 million times. It is now available in over 150 countries and also in 75 languages. The latest report is that Tik Tok and NFL has partnered for taking the app worldwide and for better penetration among the masses. The partnership has been forged on September 3, 2019.
Features that Excite the Young
One of the major advantages is the concept of Tik Tok to allow users to create short videos. The young people especially love this for they are quick to respond with as many of such short videos and share with others of their community or other social platforms. A user may easily add music in the background or speed up the video for others to share and respond. The music can be selected from a wide variety and users may effortlessly edit the same with an in-built filter. There are also speed adjustments while you do so.
Since most video clips lasts for a few seconds hence there is always a plethora of creative stuffs that users upload on to Tik Tok platform for easy viewing by others.
With the Tik Tok app you may click on feature like ‘react’ so as to film reactions about your video by other users. This is movable around the screen and is pretty cool. Then there is yet another feature and this is the ‘duet’ feature. This allows you to shoot a video side by side with yet another video. There is a ‘block’ feature that allows only authorized users to see. You may find this to be a good security feature and you may therefore allow only those users to view that are your friends. This means that there are options in Tik Tok features that suggest whether you want things to be seen in public or privately only. This may be video specific too.
As Tik Tok has its own AI it can suggest the type of videos you may like based on your own preferences and choices. For this you need to go to ‘For You’ page. Further, Tik Tok is accessible for viewing based on age of the users and your name will not show up under this feature ‘For You’ page or any other hashtags.
Controversies with Tik Tok
Although Tik Tok is fun and easy to upload short videos and download the same it is not without controversies. It is a trend setter for users of all ages and being instantly creative has become its hallmark and pretty anyone with some common sense can make short video clips. Even several celebrities too use the platform and thus have considerable social influence.
One of the worst demerits about Tik Tok is that it is often used for child pornography and sexual exhibits. You may often find users displaying videos with men and women in scanty clothing. Parents of numerous children have come up against such videos and they feel that it affects the mental stability and health of their children. Studies have proved that Tik Tok can become an addiction as it is easy to upload and download for users.
Many users have complained against intrusion into their privacy too. Although the app basically can be used for what you want to see and avoid what you do not want. Still, this doesn’t actually block easy viewing of even porn stuffs. Again, the platform has quite often been used for racist activities as well cyber bullying.