A while ago, Musical.ly took the teenage market by storm, becoming something of a household name. Not long after that, musical.ly merged with TikTok, retaining the latter’s name. TikTok is owned by the Chinese company Bytedance which is considered as one of the most valuable startups on the planet.
TikTok has come a long way from the days when it was just another lip-syncing app. As it stands now, TikTok is embraced by a lot of celebrities and brands who post their short videos on the platform. Coca-Cola, Nike, Google, and ABC have all run advertising campaigns on TikTok and Khloe Kardashian, at a time, was being paid to post sponsored content on TikTok.
So, maybe you have been hearing about TikTok, or you want to flow with the spirit of the times or you are someone who is driven by curiosity. If you are in any of these categories, relax as we go on an overview of the basic and fundamental components of TikTok.
First things first:
One of the important things to do for those who are new to TikTok is to get yourself quality ear muffs or headphones. There is no proper way to enjoy TikTok without plugging into the sound. The next step is to download the app from the Google Play Store. The next step involves the creation of an account. There are three major ways of creating an account using TikTok. You can choose between using your phone number, your email account or a 3rd party platform such as Facebook. Creating an account using your phone number will result in your getting a very generic username while using your email address results in a more specific username. You can change this username however by tapping on the humanoid icon at the bottom right corner. You could also configure your account to be either public or private by tapping the three dots at the top right corner of your profile.
Learning how to navigate TikTok:
TikTok is structured in such a way that there are two main feeds. The default feed is named “For You”. This feed contains algorithmically derived content which is tailored based on each individual user’s searches. The other feed is named “Following”. Here you can find content from the channels and people that you are following on TikTok. Towards the right of every TikTok video (sorry lefties) are a series of icons. Some such as the like icon, comment icon and share icon are pretty common among social networking platforms. A special icon is a spinning record which has musical notes coming out of it. This icon gives you info on the song track being played in the TikTok video.
Filming videos:
This is quite easy. Tap the plus sign at the bottom of the screen and the camera comes on. You can record in time to a song you chose, or record first and add the song later. One very important feature of TikTok is that you can record videos without having to hold down the record button. Each TikTok can be up to 15 seconds in length, but you can line up 4 of them to give a total of 60 seconds. You can download tik tok video for greater understanding of the mechanics.
Conclusion:
Sometimes, the best way to learn how to do something is by doing it. So, pick up your device, plug in your headphones. Play around with the features and learn the best way TikTok can help you express the rhythm of your soul.