TikTok 06 Newsletter
The Weeknd & Science Journalism
Hello world!
Following a weekend of chaos was a week full of confusion. Not only Bill Gates is
confused how the potential TikTok Microsoft deal is proceeding (The Verge, August 8). At least we have some certainty here: Trump Signs Executive Order That Will Effectively Ban Use Of TikTok In the U.S. (NPR, August 6).
Donald has now officially done more to stop Tik Tok than he's done to stop Covid 19.
Randi Mayem Singer
Of course i will continue to cover TikTok unless Insta Reels or another service really takes over completely in the foreseeable future. The new techniques of mobile storytelling and the impact of this new class of video editing apps is not tied to a specific service.
It is amazing to see the speed of adoption, copycatism and evolvment! This week we will talk about:
🌋 Cross Reality Experience
⚗️ Science Journalism
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🌋 Cross Reality Experience
Obviously someone at TikTok has seen Travis Scott´s first Fortnite concert in April or Marshmello in 2019. Advertised by TikTok as the “first-ever in-app cross reality experience” there was a 20-minute performance by The Weeknd on August 7 that featured state-of-the-art three-dimensional visuals and several interactive components, allowing an audience of over 230,000 to affect certain outcomes.
“The result was an exciting, immersive experience that many virtual events have failed to evoke. Though the performance was short — only featuring five songs — the fiery, futuristic, hell-like world it took place in was interesting enough to keep viewers satisfied and captivated” (Variety, August 7). You can check out the full experience in so called local broadcasts.
“It’s hard not to feel they are supplanting what used to be the exclusive provenance of television shows like The Tonight Shows, or Saturday Night Live,” writes Charlie Fink. I wrote some short observations about virtual beings here. Maybe you have seen these virtual models last week. All in all: a topic that is slowly putting up speed.
⚗️ Science Journalism
The german public broadcasting science program quarks is on TikTok now. The first three little explainer videos seem to have been recycled from former successful Insta usage. The tv program that has a younger audience interested in science is pretty strong on Insta with 595K followers. I have not yet seen an official press release about the TikTok thing, just a tweet by Karsten Schmehl, Media Partnerships @TikTok_de.
I am pretty curious to see how the content and the strategy evolve on TikTok. The style of the videos is well designed but might be a bit slow for the TikTok audience. Nonetheless scientific and educational content is strong on TikTok. (TikTok makes moves into education market, BBC, June 18). Let´s see how a public broadcasting team can compete against an army of creators formerly known as the audience.
That´s it for today. It is way too hot. And this was a holiday edition anyhow. Okay, here is Nepalese TikTok via Sham Jaff. She has a pretty cool newsletter. Check it out: whlw:
Ciao ✌️
Marcus