Fair Warning about TikTok: Why It’s Bad News. Delete it Now!

TikTok is the favorite app for 13-15-year-olds and it’s the most downloaded app in 2022. It’s extremely tempting if you are trying to Unfortunately, it’s bad news and dangerous. Here is why, along with some data. Ultimately, I’ll let you decide if taking the risk is worth it. I’ll also provide alternatives if you want to reach the younger generations.

TikTok Warning!

• It’s owned by China and they use it to spy on us.
• The DOD (Department of Defense), FTC (Federal Trade Commission), FBI, and FCC (Federal Communications Commission) have sent out warnings to delete TikTok. It’s a national security threat.
• U.S. Senate voted unanimously to ban TikTok from government devices.
• TikTok is targeting minors with ‘violent, degrading’ content – Sen. Tom Cotton
• Additionally, TikTok confirms employees can manually boost videos’ reach by using a “heating” button, bypassing the algorithm intended to drive the TikTok experience.

In other words, they maneuver the virality of videos. A viral video gets extra reach not because a lot of users are viewing it, but because the TikTok staff is pushing it out.

Besides the fact that the Chinese use it to data mine, spy on us, and control what users see, knowing what is on TikTok, makes you wonder what the Chinese think of us in America.

TikTok’s Main Users

The majority of TikTok users are teenagers — Gen A and Z.

Gen-A is the group born between 2010 to 2024 (under 13). They are the children of Gen-Y (millennials) and often the younger siblings of Gen-Z. Gen-A is predicted to be the largest generation in history, with 2.5 million individuals being born every single week.

Unfortunately, this generation, being at a vulnerable age, is the one that’s in the most danger of being negatively influenced on this social network.

Alternatives to TikTok

So, what if you want to reach the younger generations? What are the alternatives?

• YouTube — Young folks are leaving Facebook and going to YouTube. Since YouTube added “shorts” — the verticle videos — it’s copying TikTok. YouTube is the largest search engine next to its parent Google. Learn more about YouTube marketing in this video.
• Instagram — check out this webinar video…
• Snapchat is still around.
• BeReal — a colleague told me about this one. Owned by a French company, it’s free to use, and has no ads. By the way, Pinterest started that way. So far, it looks clean and safe for 13-year-olds and up. (Incidentally, no one under 13 should be on social media without supervision). After reading their community use details, I learned you can’t join as a business, nor are you allowed to promote a business. However, you can join as yourself and then take pix of you and/or your team working or using your product or service.

To TikTok or not to TikTok

Is it worth it? Obviously, it’s up to you whether you want to take the risk or not. If you’d like to discuss your alternatives on how to reach the younger generations, let’s set up a free 15-minute Zoom consult and we can brainstorm.?