TikTok has quickly become one of the most popular social media apps in the world. Especially among Millennials and Gen Zers. Despite its massive popularity, however, there’s also a lot of criticism surrounding the app. In this post, I’ll explain why I hate TikTok and why it’s perfect for travel creators and Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs).
Why I Hate TikTok
The main reason I hate TikTok is because it takes everything that makes social media the most powerful tool in the world to eleven.
It is incredibly addictive. People often spend hours a day scrolling through their feed, watching viral videos and engaging with creators. This can lead to productivity-sapping social media binges, and it can even be detrimental to mental health.
The privacy violations are complete. If you are on the platform rest assured they are monitoring your every click. They are mining every private bit of data about you and your life and sharing that information with one of the most authoritarian governments in the world.
In addition, the app also has a distinct lack of moderation and oversight. Many users have reported that offensive and harmful content is not removed and that there are rarely any consequences for people who violate the platform’s terms of service. Some argue the TikTok even purposely recommends harmful content to children. Personally I agree with them. We never let our kids near TikTok, but we don’t let them watch YouTube either.
All of these concerns are real and need to be addressed. We should all as businesses and individuals hold them accountable and insist they make these changes, but the truth is it’s here to stay.
Why TikTok is Perfect for Travel Bloggers and DMOs
TikTok is THE MOST POWERFUL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM IN THE WORLD TODAY. If you are a creator or a DMO you need to be learning everything you can about it and using it right now to find a massive audience that you are not reaching on Facebook, Instagram or any other platform. You should be using it to take engagement with your audience to 11.
Despite my own reservations about the app, there’s no denying that it is an incredibly powerful tool for travel creators and DMOs. For starters, the app is incredibly popular among the ever-elusive younger generations, and it boasts A LARGER REACH THAN ANY OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM.
TikTok makes it easy for content to go VIRAL
It is the only social media platform that makes it easy to share your content across other social media platforms. When you post your content, their share button allows you to cross post your content to Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and other social platforms with one click. It encourages its content to go “VIRAL”. There are massive accounts on Twitter, and Facebook that do nothing other than share TikTok posts.
There is a reason Mr. Beast who is a marketing genius and the world’s biggest YouTuber with 135 million subscribers practically begged Keith Lee, a food TikToker with 10.7 million followers, to review his cookies.
TikTok has better search than Google
Google has dominated search for decades. That period of dominance appears to be coming to an end. Let that sink in. That is an earth shaking development. If you are putting all your paid and organic search resources into Google and much of your current and all of your future audience is using TikTok to decide where to travel, where to stay, where to eat, and what to do for entertainment you are wasting your money and losing customers every day.
Along with ChatGPT and other AI Chatbots, it is seriously threatening Google for search. Watch this short video from SEO expert Neil Patel about how more people especially younger generations are using over Google for discovery.
I saw this first hand this past weekend. When looking for a new breakfast spot, I went to Google, My wife Angie went to TikTok. Her search turned up better results faster and with videos that made our mouths water and our decision easy. Try it yourself. The next time you use Google to look for something, do the same search on TikTok and see which one you think has better results.
Conclusion
Should you stop what you are doing on every other platform and move to TikTok? Of course not. But ignoring it is a huge mistake. Sure it has it’s drawbacks but the positives far outweigh the negatives and as of this moment TikTok is the disrupter that is capturing the eyes and attention of the audience you are looking for.
** We invite you to join us at the upcoming TBEX Europe, TBEX North America, or TBEX Africa conferences where short-form video creation is always a popular educational sessions!
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