TikTok Newsletter 38
Arab TikTok, Most followed museums, Over 40 🧟♀️
Hi subscriber,
this is Understanding TikTok your weekly dose 🥕 of TikTok news. My name is Marcus.
TikTok has 732 million monthly active users globally now, a new leaked TikTok deck reveals. According to this sales presentation users spend an average of 89 minutes on the app and open it an average of 19 times a day. And: 92% of TikTok's users are not on LinkedIn. Lucky them!
Today we talk about:
🔍 Arab TikTok
🎨 The most followed museums on TikTok
🧟♀️ Over 40
🔍 Arab TikTok
The Atlantic Council is an American Atlanticist think tank with an interesting list of financial sponsors, including Facebook, the British government, Ukrainian oligarchs and Lebanese billionaires. Samantha Treiman, is the media and communications coordinator for the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Program. She has published The ultimate guide to Arab TikTok on the website.
It is a nice overview, including numbers, beauty influencers, political leaders, interactive “TikTok Booths” at malls, Ramadan trends and of course the first “TikTok House” in the Middle East in Amman, Jordan.
Treiman writes “In addition to lip-syncing, cooking hacks, hijab styling tips, and countless cat videos, TikTok has provided a relatively unregulated space for Arab users to speak on political and social issues.” Not to forget censorship and drastic punishment.
“There has yet to be an official ban of TikTok, but many countries—including Saudi Arabia—have toyed with the idea, given the potential security concerns and the ongoing effort to censor content in general”, Treiman writes. And now what? Cosmopolitan has 19 Middle Eastern TikTokers you need to follow right now.
Disclaimer: I am not an expert on Arab TikTok but i am curious to learn more here. If you have expertise please get in contact. ☕
🎨 The most followed museums on TikTok
I had a first look at museums on TikTok in newsletter 2 and 14. By chance i stumbled upon this article on the website of the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, Germany: The Perfect Algorithm. Quote: “Here are some highlights for a balanced cultural algorithm.” The Schirn is on TikTo too. Since November 2020 the team has produced 42 videos. With 630 Follower and 9520 Likes it is among the smaller art venues on the platform. But a good example to see how more and more institutions open up and embrace the platform.
The article lists the well known examples like Rijskmuseum (82K Follower 365.1K Likes) and of course Uffizi (75.8K Follower 510.2K Likes) and more and is worthwhile if you are interested in the topic. In addition The Art Newspaper has a little interview with Ilde Forgione, TikTok account manager at the Gallerie degli Uffizi (We are so proud of being able to speak Gen Z’s language).
While browsing for an actual list of museums on TikTok i saw several articles about the Black Country Museum (575.4K Follower 8.2M Likes). The most followed museum on TikTok, wrote the BBC in December 2020.
Well, the Sacramento History Museum is obviously the new number one (1.2M Follower and 12M Likes) now due to printing press operator Howard Hatch (I still don’t get it). The Washington Post has a nice article about him and snail expert Tim Pearce from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (318.2 K Follower 4.M Likes)
No wonder, personalisation and the potential for possible memeification are sometimes more important on TikTok than status, brick and mortar. Admittedly the Royal Opera House has pretty impressive numbers for a cultural institution too (380.8K Followers 5M Likes).
🧟♀️ Over 40
Despite TikTok’s flashy Gen Z exterior, in June 2020 — the most recent data that’s publicly available — 21% of all TikTok Android app North American users were over 40, reports Statista. I read this sentence in a Medium-article by Zara Stone called The Real Moms of TikTok.
Stone writes: “For a growing number of midlifers, the short-form video app has helped them carve out a space for self-expression and communities where they’re seen and heard.”
While this is certainly true recently published insight by TikTok reads like that: "TikTok parents are more likely to post about home appliances, snack products, business, cars and grocery products." Kill me quick, before i die.
What else?
🦠 NowThis (Stories that stop thumbs) partners with TikTok for Viral, a new live show about the pandemic (AdWeek, Techcrunch). While i missed the first episode i liked the intro video by Laurel Bristow.
🕹️ Great headline: Rihanna Responded to Her TikTok Doppelgänger. And the Guardian has curated 10 video game TikTok accounts.
👔 If you still do not have an idea about what to post, why not try TikTok’s new Business Creative Hub. ”The new hub aims to address this need, with a showcase of trending content in three different categories, which aims to highlight creative, engaging use of TikTok clips by brands.” Oh, you are not a brand? Here is a vegan chicken recipe.🐔
C’est ça. Speak soon. Ciao. Marcus