You heard it’s a bit dodgy. You’re kids are begging for the app but perhaps you don’t really understand your reluctance. You know two things about TikTok, it’s got something to do with China and governments around the world don’t trust it, in fact some State level departments have forbidden it’s installation on employee’s phones. It’s TikTok and it's rapidly becoming an all too convenient babysitter in many Irish Households. For the uninitiated, here’s the basics. TikTok is a social media app in the same category as Instagram and Facebook. It lives on your phone and delivers a stream of short videos to a global audience where the TikTok community award “likes” for entertaining videos. Indeed, it originated in China around 2017/18 when two social media apps (Douyin & Musical.ly joined forces to produce the TikTok app which quickly became popular with the world’s music loving, teenage generation who seemingly have an insatiable appetite for video, particularly during a pandemic. There are two types of TikTok: pre-recorded video lasting 15s, 1minute or 3 minutes long or a live TikTok broadcast for however long each TikTokker decides to broadcast. Each TikTok is published onto an endless vertically sliding river of TikToks flowing non-stop in the hope of catching likes and followers to build an audience. It has to be said that TikTok is a lot of fun and delivers content unlike any other social media platform. At the core of the app, TikTok turns every user into a self-sufficient broadcaster where originality, musicality and creativity are rewarded with appreciation. The video editing, filters, graphics software combined with big hit chart music creates some wonderfully engaging content that pings the brain’s pleasure centre much like sugar. Tik-Tokkers participate in cultural movements spread across the world making them feel part of a musical phenomenon like much Elvis might have for your Granny. So is it dodgy? One of the original apps that made up TikTok allowed browsers to search by face which points toward the CCPs digitising of all citizen’s likenesses. If you break a red light in Wuhan, your image will immediately be matched to the government database for prosecution, likely resulting in a fine and a deduction against your monitored social credit. Big brother truly in effect in a culture where your personal profile is highly digitalised. The biggest fear around installing TikTok on your phone is your data will somehow be compromised with spyware and the digital baddies will hack your phone and clear you out. I’m not so sure the Chinese government are hell bent on stealing your data but there is a growing worrying industry emanating from China, Russia and North Korea where hackers benefit from a more relaxed attitude towards hacking. The real question should be around access to your kids as they venture out into a digital landscape sharing videos of themselves with strangers. The minimum age requirement for TikTok is 13 and we all hope we’ve educated our kids about responsible online practices. That's the headline, the subscript is that kids are communicating more and more through digital community apps like Fortnite, Roblox and Minecraft. TikTok like the rest of them is something that the cool kids are into. It gets appealing around 5th class as kids get a phone so Mam and Dad can check in on them from a distance. A luxury that comes at a price of putting an attention sapping device right in their pocket. If your kid hasn't got TikTok, there's a fair chance they’ll be feeling left out at school. How much did we rely on digital content during the pandemic? With nothing open, nowhere to go last year we all subscribed to Netflix, Disney and Amazon in our millions to keep ourselves sane and the mental health somewhat stable. Similarly our kids connected with friends in digital playgrounds affording parents some quiet time while they tried to make sense of a world turned outside in. Millions jumped on the TikTok train and 732million active daily users means TikTok is catching up quickly to Facebook and Instagram. I’m advising brands to register an account and secure their username before it’s gone because marketing on TikTok is going to be a huge part of digital strategy in the future. For brands and parents understanding TikTok and it’s content will help you make an informed decision on accessing the addictive app. If you’re the kind of parent that abandons their kid to TikTok, Playstation or XBox to do the baby-sitting, expect trouble in the future. But if you’re engaged and watching, cautious moderation is key. Interested to hear your thoughts! Catch me on mail@james-byrne.com.