TikTok is starting to become more than just an entertainment site; it has become a platform for people to share information on pressing political issues and global conflicts
News sources such as MSNBC and CNN have TikTok accounts that spread news about Ukraine and other subjects. Some of the comments on the videos state that they are learning more from TikTok than regular news. This begs the question: Does TikTok have a place in journalism?
The hashtag “Ukraine” has over 23.2 billion views on the site, and videos of the conflict are showing up on people’s “For You” pages on the daily. Along with the news being presented to users, videos meant for entertainment are also brought up on their feed.
TikTok users do not have much control over what shows up on their “For You” page, as it is determined by an algorithm created by TikTok. Therefore, viewers are getting a strange mix of cat videos, people dancing and hard news about the Ukraine war.
French teacher Marina Boes is often uncomfortable with the quick change in videos on her “For You” page. “It’s super weird. My page goes from upsetting stuff about the Ukraine conflict and then the next video is something about fashion. It’s overwhelming,” she said.
“Honestly sometimes I just skip past the videos about Ukraine. It is good information, but it is upsetting and hard to watch. When I am trying to have a good time while watching the app, sometimes I don’t want videos about Ukraine coming up on my page,” Boes remarked.
Despite the mix of content on the app, sometimes the content available is keeping teens up to date on news. Senior Jack Williams has also been seeing news about Ukraine on his “For You” page, but he finds a more positive stance on seeing news on TikTok. “Having a reliable news source pop up conveniently on my page makes it easy for me to learn about an important conflict without having to go out of my way to learn about it,” he said.
According to an article by Gallup, around 45% of individuals aged 15-24 use social media as their main source of news, while only 15% obtain their news from television. With social media having such a large influence on the news that teenagers consume, it is not surprising that people want to keep the younger generation informed about the conflict in Ukraine through sites like TikTok.
But not all of the information is beneficial.
Senior Allisa Pandit’s article about Gen Z’s humor about the war described people who are making comments by calling Putin “Vladdy Daddy” and asking him not to attack Ukraine. In other TikToks, people are posting themselves doing the pullup challenge by the Marines in high school and saying they “made a mistake” by catching the military’s attention.
Although TikTok is generally sought after as an entertainment app, people will continue to post political content on the site. People have always used social media as a way to not only spread their opinions but also as a way to spread news to younger audiences. As conflicts continue to develop, TikTok might become a new medium for news sites to spread information on the daily.
